The Body at the Campsite
by akaJB
Summary: CHAPTER 13 That's right UPDATED! When Parker and Booth are camping Parker makes an unusual discovery. Will the details of this case tear Brennan and Booth farther apart or help them mend the gap? Please read and take a moment to review.
1. Chapter 1

The Body at the Campsite

By Joey

Disclaimer – I don't own Bones or any of the characters or any of the books, or merchandise (well accept for a single copy of the Season 1 DVDs). Please don't sue me, I'm trying to save for when I start Grad School this fall. 

This first chapter has been sitting around for a while (I think I started it last summer…) and I finally resurrected it and fixed it up and thought I'd put it up there for some motivation to continue. I have the story kind of planned out (as in I know the case, just not sure where the characters will take me on the journey.)

* * *

"Over here! Over here!" Booth watched with a tried smile as Parker ran off in front of him towards a small clearing in the forest. There was a small wooden post sticking out of the ground designating the location as campsite 21. Off slightly to the left of the campsite sat a small fire pit that was currently filled with leaves left over from winter. 

May long weekend, the first weekend that most people haul out their camping gear for another season, had come and gone. However, this campsite didn't appear to have had any use since the end of the camping season the year before.

Not that surprising, Booth noted to himself, as the first time he'd ever found it had been a complete fluke. It was a registered campsite, it just wasn't the first one you'd stumble across. And, when you have to hike in, most people stop at the first empty campsite they can find.

Although at the moment he didn't blame them. He'd started realizing part way through the hike that taking an almost seven year old to a hike in campsite isn't the most intelligent idea he'd ever had. The only thing Parker was carrying was a small backpack stuffed with his favorite stuffed animal, a scruffy looking elephant, and a bottle of water. Then add in the fact that quite early in the hike Parker had decided he was tired and Booth had had to carry him as well.

But in the last ten minutes, as they'd finally neared the campsite, Parker had gotten his second wind, and Booth had been more than ready to put him down.

Now, as Booth entered the campsite he let everything he was carrying fall loudly to the ground. He gave a slight groan as he rolled his shoulders desperately trying to relieve the stiffness that had settled in from having so much weight placed on them for an extended period of time. What he wouldn't give for a massage at the moment, having Bones run her hands over his shoulders…

Shaking away the not so pg thoughts that were creeping into his mind, he shifted his thoughts to their upcoming anniversary. He still found it hard to believe how quickly their first anniversary as a married couple was approaching. Three years ago if someone had told him that he and Bones would end up married he would've clapped them on the shoulder, laughed and told them "right" with a quick eye roll. It made the approaching anniversary even more shocking. What a milestone! That is what a milestone it will be if they actually make it (a possibility he was starting have some doubt in). They were only a month away and recently things had started to go downhill. Just small fights over insignificant issues that were slowly blowing out of proportion. The kind of fights they use to burst out laughing during once they realized what they were actually fighting about.

He knew he shouldn't be letting himself get lost in these negative thoughts. After all, this was his first summer with Parker. Rebecca and him had been actually getting along in the last year and half or so. Once he started dating Bones it seemed that things between him and Rebecca just fell into place. No longer did they look at each other as potential partners or linger over thoughts of what could have been; instead they knew for sure that they were heading off on different paths. Of course Parker would always keep the two of them tied to each other.

Parker and Bones had grown very close over the course of his relationship. A fact that still surprised and confused everyone. Brennan had always insisted that she didn't get along with kids. That they didn't understand each other and that she didn't know how to 'talk at their level.' But Parker was a very curious kid always asking questions and didn't seem to mind the long scientific answers that Brennan would produce. In fact, it just produced more questions from the little boy as he struggled with learning about the world around him. As he often told his dad (and anyone who would listen) "Bones is the smartest person in the _whole_ world!" When Booth would pretend to be offended by the comment, Parker would reply in a serious voice "It's okay Daddy, Bones says that there are different kinds of smart, I'm sure you're smart in one of them."

And so, to celebrate the start of his summer with Parker, Booth had decided to take Parker on a manly adventure: a hike-in camping trip. Of course the trip originally wasn't going to be manly, as he'd asked Bones to come with him and the three of them had been organizing the trip for the past month. But as the situation between him and Brennan seemed to worsen, Brennan announced that she could no longer afford to take the week off work and that the two of them would have to go without her. While Parker was upset, he was appeased by the fact that he would get alone time with his father, and knew that he had the rest of the summer to badger Bones with questions. Booth on the other hand, had just sighed and nodded resignedly without putting up much of a fuss. 

He had wanted to beg her to come. To remind her that this would be a perfect opportunity for the three of them to bond together and for the two of them to spend sometime without the added pressure of work surrounding them. But one look at her face when she'd announced her decision had convinced him that he would be wasting his time and that the request would have turned into another one of their long drawn out battles of words. It wasn't worth the argument, and maybe the time apart would allow them to put things into perspective.

He was drawn from his thoughts as Parker attempted to climb on him in a bid to gain his attention. He pulled Parker from his legs, tossing him lightly into the air before catching him and resting him on his hip. "So bub, what do you think?" Booth watched as his son surveyed the campsite from his perch with an air of seriousness.

"I like it," Parker declared. "When are we going swimming?"

"Not tonight," Booth replied, raising a hand, in the universal 'wait' sign, as Parker opened his mouth to argue. "We've got to set up the tent, gather wood, and cook dinner." He pointed to his backpack, "we've got hot dogs for tonight!"

Booth set Parker down on the ground, and pointed over to a clump of trees to the left. "How about you gather up some wood and place it next to the fire pit. I'll start getting our tent set up." Parker nodded, solemnly accepting his task, before racing over to the clump of trees and gathering together a small load of sticks. He then slowly and carefully carried them to the fire pit, trying not to drop any, before hurrying back to repeat the task.

Booth watched his son carefully repeat the procedure a few times, before turning to his own task. He pulled out a tarp first, setting it over the ground before unpacking the tent on top.

He managed to get the tent mostly erected when he noticed the noise level had been dramatically reduced. Booth stood up, swinging his head from side to side as he tried to spot Parker. Spinning slowly in a circle, he finally noticed his son lying on the ground, head buried in the bushes at the base of a couple of trees, staring at something intently.

"Hey bub," Booth walked over to his son, "what're you looking at?"

Parker reached forward and carefully picked up something that initially looked like a large grayish stick. "Look Daddy," he pulled himself up to his knees, "a femur!"

"What?!" Booth barely managed to keep himself from shouting as he sprang across the rest of the area separating him from his son.

"It's a bone daddy," Parker replied matter-of-factly, turning around and holding out his 'prize' to Booth. "Bones has been telling me all about the bones in the body. Did you know that an adult has 206?! This one looks like a femur. They're the largest bone in the body!" Parker stared up at his dad, a proud grin on his face for remembering all that information.

Booth carefully lifted the object from his son's grasp, giving him a weak smile. It took him only a few seconds to confirm that it was in fact a bone. Having worked with Bones for over two years, he had picked up a few skills. However, unlike his son, he wasn't sure if what they were looking at was a human bone or animal.

Booth squatted down by his son, looking him straight in the eye. "Did you find any other bones?"

"Uh uh," Parker shook his head wildly from side to side causing his curls to bounce crazily. "But I haven't made it very far into the bushes yet," he continued as he lowered himself back to the ground ready to dive farther in.

Booth grabbed him by the back of his shirt, hauling him to his feet. "That's okay Parker. Let me take a look first, the bones might be from an animal."

"You're wrong daddy," Parker shook his head and waved his finger, but moved aside to let his dad at the bushes. "That's a femur. That's a leg bone daddy and that's from a human!"

"Let's not jump to any conclusions bub, let me take a quick look first," Booth parted the bushes in front of him.

"I'm right!" Parker shouted. "I know I am. Bones said I'm really good at looking at bones!"

"I'm sure you are, but we just want to be sure before I make any phone…" Booth trailed off, having finally pushed far enough into the bushes to have seen enough. "Never mind, lets find the cell phone."

* * *

All reviews are greatly appreciated. While I love knowing that you thought the chapter was a 'good start' or 'interesting' or 'absolutely worthless,' I really like comments that tell me areas I can improve in or things you'd like to see. Or, if that's not up your alley, let me know how your day went. J 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 –

Disclaimer – Same as last chapter. Don't own them, just borrowing for some cheap entertainment. :)

Note – Thanks to everyone who reviewed, read, added this story as a favorite, or created an author/story alert. :) You guys are the reason I write, so please keep up the reviews to help keep me motivated.

_FauxMaven_ – I got my B.Sc last fall in Computer Science so I'll be working to get my Masters in Computer Science as well. I'm not sure exactly what area I'll be working in, but possibly something like robotics or A.I. Although, I'd love to end up working in crime scene investigation of some sort (possibly analyzing stuff with computers or creating software to aid investigators). I've always been a HUGE fan of mysteries starting with Nancy Drew and the Hardy boys when I was little and moving on to authors like Patricia Cornwell and Kathy Reichs (who I read before Bones was even an idea) and many others… If I hadn't done computer science, I probably would've done something although the forensic route…

Thanks to _goldpiece_ we realized that the age I've assigned Parker makes no sense. :) So, I've changed the age in the last chapter, but that's all that's been changed. He's now almost 7 instead of almost 5. He was 4 in the Christmas episode first season, and I figure my story takes place about a year, year and a half after the Vegas episode second season (and sully never existed in my universe).

Now… on to the story!

* * *

As Booth turned away from the bushes to head towards their belongings, Parker immediately moved back towards the bushes. All he had seen so far was the femur (and he was positive it _was_ a femur) but he knew his dad had to have seen something else to want to get the phone.

"Parker!" Before Parker could take two steps Booth had grabbed the back of his shirt and was pulling him away. "I know you're curious bub, but you do not need to see what's in the bushes." Booth led his son away, Parker turning his head back to watch the bushes. Curiosity was overwhelming him but he knew that putting up a fight against his dad wouldn't get him anywhere.

Once they'd reached their backpacks, Booth let go of his son, crouching down on one knee face to face with him. "Parker, bub, I'm sorry you can't look in the bushes right now. But it's very important that I call Cullen and let him know what you found."

"Are you going to call Bones too, daddy?" Parker interrupted with a smile lighting up his face. "I want to show her the femur."

"After I talk with Cullen, I'm sure I'm going to need to phone Bones as well," Booth signed, rubbing a hand down his face. _That_ phone call was not going to be fun. "Tell you what, if you sit quietly right here while I talk to Cullen you can phone Bones for me and tell her all about your discovery." As he watched Parker's smile turn into a full blown grin he knew he'd suggested the right thing. And it didn't hurt if it meant that Bones would be in a better mood after talking to Parker before he would have to talk to her.

Parker immediately collapsed onto the ground at his feet, pulling his small backpack towards him and pulling out Ellant his Elephant. Ellant had received his name when Parker was still have trouble grasping the pronunciation of elephant and the name had stuck even though he had no trouble with the word now.

Keeping one eye on Parker, Booth dug out his phone and after assuring himself that he was getting at least one bar of a signal dialed his boss.

* * *

"Guess what Bones?" Parker nearly shouted into the phone as soon as he heard the telltale click that the phone had been picked up. His excitement had him forgetting proper phone etiquette.

"Parker?" Brennan's confused voice floated through the phone.

"Guess what? Guess what? Guess what?" Parker chanted in reply.

"Parker, can you pass the phone to your daddy please?" Bones replied with a sign, not sure how to deal with his excitement. Even after over a year of spending time with Booth's son, she still wasn't quite positive on how to react to his various moods. When he was interested and asking questions they got along just fine. But the young boys exuberance often confused her as she had trouble following his train of thoughts.

"But daddy said I could tell you," Parker's excitement fell away, his voice trembling on the edge of tears. "I wanted to be the one to tell you…"

"I'm sorry Parker, go on. What did you want to tell me?"

"But you haven't guessed yet?" Like any kid, Parker's emotions could change at the drop of a hat and his voice had regained his earlier excitement. Good thing too, because as soon has his voice had dropped Booth had moved towards the phone ready to take it away.

"Umm…" Brennan paused trying to think what could be exciting enough to Parker for him to have called her. She was about to give her regular logical answer of 'I'm not there with you, how would I have any idea what you want to tell me,' when she recalled a conversation with Angela a few months back. Angela and Parker had participated in a similar conversation and she had questioned Angela's wild answers to Parkers' questions. Angela had told her that the point of 'guess what' was not for her to reply with the actual answer, even if she knew it, but to keep the boy happy and that wild answer usually did the trick. "Hmm, Parker did you guys find a … spaceship?" Brennan tried not to wince as she replied to him. However, the immediate giggling that came through the phone told her that her reply had been a good one.

"No," Parker shook his head, forgetting that she couldn't see him.

"Did you find a balloon tree?" Brennan tried another answer, recalling the idea from a book Parker had brought home a couple months earlier.

"Nope," Parker's giggling made it hard to get the words out. "I found a femur!"

"A what?"

"A femur Bones! I was looking in the bushes for sticks for our fire and I found a bone. It's a femur, but daddy doesn't believe me." Parker explained. "But I know I'm right Bones. I could see the head and neck part of the bone, and the greater trocha… trochen…trochenty thingy." Parker fumbled over the last word.

"The trochanter," Brennan replied absently as her mind tried to process what Parker was telling her. After a fairly lengthy pause, and a few "Bones? Bones?" from Parker she remembered she was still on the phone. "That's great Parker. I'm sure you're right. Do you think you can pass the phone over to your dad now?"

Feeling appeased after Bones said she agreed with him Parker turned to his dad. With both hands on his hips, a pose that Booth associated with Brennan and was sure Parker and picked up from her, Parker told his dad "Bones thinks it's a femur too. She believes me."

Booth just nodded in reply, his hand out ready to accept the phone which Parker handed over grudgingly. Before speaking into the phone, Booth wrapped an arm around his son, pulling him against his side in a hug. Parker hugged him back, content with being held as his dad talked.

"Hi Bones," Booth spoke into the phone at last.

"Booth." Brennan's reply was short and abrupt. Apparently talking with Parker hadn't relaxed her as much as he had hoped. "What's this I hear about a femur? I thought you guys were camping."

"We are. Or we're trying to. However looks like your luck followed us to the campsite."

"My luck?" the confused reply questioned.

"Yeah, you never seem to be able to have a vacation with a body turning up. Remember our honeymoon?"

"That's not _my_ luck. You were there too," her reply was quick and sharp and Booth felt himself flinch from the tone. Joking was not going to work with her tonight.

"I know Bones. I'm sorry. I just got off the phone will Cullen. Parker was collecting sticks for the fire and he found a bone."

Brennan couldn't help the smile that slid across her face as she heard Parker exclaim "a femur" in the background.

"Right, a femur," Booth told her, rolling his eyes, knowing Parker wouldn't see as he'd turned his gaze back to the bushes. "I looked into the bushes and well, the femur isn't alone. It's definitely human."

"How do you know it's human?"

"Let's just say I could see the …" he looked down at his son, and changed what he was going to say. "Let's just say it was looking at me."

"Looking at you?" Brennan was even more confused now. "If you found a bone, then whatever it is, well, it's dead. How can it be looking at you?"

For the first time that evening since the discovery, Booth felt a smile creeping across his face. "It's not that it was looking at me, it's that …" Booth groaned, knowing that she wasn't going to get it. "Is Angela around? Can you put her on the phone?"

"Okay," Brennan covered the receiver while calling out for Angela.

"Hey Booth, I thought you and Parker were camping?" Angela's voice soon came over the receiver.

"We are, or we're trying, but, well, Parker found a bone."

"Deer?"

"Nope. I looked in the bushes and, well, it was looking at me. It's definitely human. Can you explain to Brennan what that means? She doesn't believe me that it's human."

Booth winced as he heard Brennan explode in the background. "Well it's not like Booth knows anything about bones. Why should I believe him?"

"He said there's a skull. At least give him credit that he can recognize a human skull," he listened as Angela explained the meaning of his cryptic comment to Brennan.

"Well, it could be a chimp, their skulls are very similar to humans. In fact…" Brennan started.

Angela cut off Brennan's reply with "yeah, and what would a chimp skull be doing out in a national park in DC?" Angela turned her attention back to the phone. "Hey Booth, I'm passing the phone back to Bren now."

"Okay, thanks Angela." Booth waited a few seconds as he heard the phone exchange hands. "We need you to come out here."

"Tonight?"

"I thought you'd be all over this? It's not like we can stay in this campsite now!" Booth replied, a shiver running through him at the thought.

He hears a sign followed by a resigned, "Okay. Just let me get all my stuff together and gather Zack. We'll be out there as soon as we can." There's a pause and he can hear papers being shuffled together. "Um, where are you?"

He almost laughs at the question but manages to keep himself in check. "I left a map and directions on the counter by the phone at home. I circled the campsite. It took us just over an hour to hike in. Do you want us to come out to the road to meet you?"

"No, that's okay. I doubt Parker can do that hike twice in one day. Besides, it's getting late. Shouldn't you be feeding him dinner and putting him to bed?"

"Well, we were going to have those hot dogs but since we can't very well use the campfire now…" Booth trailed off, his son was looking up at him with puppy dog eyes, clearly disappointed at the thought of no hotdogs.

"Is there another campsite close by?" Her voice drew his thoughts back to the phone.

"Uh," Booth searched his mind. "Yeah, I think there is. Why don't I take Parker over there. When you get near, give me a call on the phone and I'll come meet you."

"But the bones. You can't leave the site unattended."

"Bones, we haven't seen another person since we parked the car this afternoon."

"That doesn't mean that no ones out there." Brennan insisted.

"Fine, we'll just have a snack while we wait for you. So get here as soon as you can." With that, Booth snapped the phone closed.

"But daddy…" Parker started to whine. "You said we would have hotdogs. I want a hotdog."

"We will bub, we just have to wait for Bones."

"Is she going to camp with us now?" Parker looked up hopefully.

"I don't think so bub. I'm not sure if _we're_ going to still be camping."

"But…" Tears leaked from Parkers eyes. He'd been looking forward to this camping trip for months. He'd told everyone at school.

Booth picked his son up, comforting him with a hug. "We have the whole summer to camp bub, we'll be out again. I promise." Parker rubbed his eyes against Booth's shirt and Booth tried to make his voice sound perky as he suggested they have a snack. "What do you think Ellant would like? We have trail mix or granola bars."

Parker perked up a slightly. "Are there peanuts in the trail mix? Mrs. Rogers told me that elephants like peanuts."

* * *

I know not much happened in this chapter, but well, it's getting long and I'm getting tired. So I thought I'd post what's written. In the next chapter, Brennan will finally be out there, ready to look at the bones.

If I don't end up climbing tomorrow night, there will be another chapter. Otherwise I won't have time 'til Tuesday.

Don't forget to review, comment, criticize, talk about your day, whatever you want. :)


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 –

Once again, I don't own Bones or anything except a copy of Season 1 and a copy of all of Kathy Reich's books. :)

I only got two reviews for the second chapter, so I'm really hoping to get some more on this one or I'll have to consider not continuing. Are people losing interest?

* * *

Booth loved his son. There was no doubt about it, but after spending the last two and a half hours trying to entertain an increasingly cranky six year old he had about had enough. After Brennan had pretty much forbade them from leaving the site, he had sat down with Parker and tried to engage him in some simple games. However, because they were sitting at a crime scene, they games had to be ones that didn't involve moving around. Which also meant that the energetic six year old was forced to be inactive when all he wanted to do with explore.

And Parker was hungry. Booth had plied him with granola bars and trail mix after getting off the phone, but that wasn't enough when it was actually dinner time. And as the hours past and it started to approach Parkers bed time, the boy became crankier, tired and antsy.

Parker wanted his hotdog. His dad had promised him that they would cook them on a fire and everything. And Parker loves hotdogs and didn't get to eat them nearly as often as he felt he should. So with a growling stomach and growing frustration from not being allowed to explore coupled together with exhaustion as the hike caught up with him Parker was starting to grate on Booths' nerves.

When his phone finally sprang to life, belting out a generic ring tone, Booth had never felt so relieved. Snapping the phone open he barked out "Booth."

Parker had finally stopped fidgeting and whining when the phone rang and was looking up at his dad in curiosity.

"Okay Bones, we'll head towards you guys. Sounds like you're probably only a few minutes away," Booth replied into the phone after listening for a few minutes. Without giving Brennan another chance to insist that they stay at the campsite guarding the bones, he snapped the phone shut with a quick flick of his wrist and stood up, stretching the kinks out of his back. Looking down at his son, he held out a hand to help him up. "Okay bub, lets go find Bones."

Parker allowed his dad to pull him to his feet before taking off towards the path they had entered the campsite from, Booth following quickly behind him.

They had only been walking for a few minutes when Booth could hear the tell tale sounds of another person walking towards him. Cocking his head to the side and pausing for a couple of seconds, he quickly realized that the sounds he was hearing were definitely coming from more than just a couple of people.

Turning to look down at Parker, who had stopped to watch him, Booth told him, "Sounds like Bones didn't come alone."

"Do you think Zack came as well?" Parker asked, hoping up and down. Parker really enjoyed spending time with Zack, as Zack was the one who had made him the cool robot. So usually when the two go together, Zack worked on improving the robot. The robot was starting to actually listen to a few voice commands now, although a some still caused really odd reactions.

"I'm sure Zack came along too bub," Booth replied. "It sounds like there's a lot more than just Zack though."

A few steps later as they rounded a bend in the trail they could see a large group heading towards them, Brennan leading the way with Zack only a few steps behind her.

"BONES!" Parker shouted, rushing forward to greet his step mom. Even though Brennan and Booth had married almost a year earlier, Parker still didn't call her mom. That's not to say that when he explained who she was to other people that he didn't say she was his mom. It is just that he had never moved from calling her Bones, just like his dad. And personally, Brennan didn't mind. She had realized when she made the decision to get married to Booth that she would become Parker's parent, and as much as she had made progress towards enjoying being around children, she still hadn't changed her mind about wanting one of her own. So having Parker call her Bones had seemed like an ideal solution to her, and she had encouraged it.

"Hi Parker," Brennan replied, lowering what she was carrying to the ground, before crouching down to receive a hug from the eager boy. "Have you been having a good time with your dad?"

Parker looked back at his dad briefly, who had caught up to them by this time, before leaning forward and whispering to Bones, "Daddy's not very good at I-spy and rock, paper, scissors." Of course, like many little boys, Parker had not completely grasped the concept of whispering and it came out just loud enough for Zack and Booth to hear as well. Booth just smiled and shrugged when Brennan looked at him. It's not like those games held any appeal after playing them for over two hours straight.

Booth held out his hand to Parker, tugging him gently away from Bones. "Come on bub, lets go show," he paused as he took in the large group of people standing around waiting for directions on what to do next, "let's show, _everyone_, where the bones are."

Parker nodded enthusiastically, letting go of Booth's hand in favor of Bones', and pulling Bones forwarded while chattering away about the femur. Smiling as she stood up and let Parker have his way, glancing back briefly to ensure that someone had picked up her belongings.

Back at the campsite, Booth had to maintain a firm grip on Parker's shoulders to prevent him from diving back into the bushes to show Bones what he had found. Instead, standing back from the bush, Booth directed Bones over to where she could see for herself.

Almost immediately, Brennan was mimicking Parkers early pose, flat on her stomach, head buried in the bush. After a few minutes of rustling around, the regular terms started being spouted off. "Well you're right, it's deffinitly…" Brennan trailed off as she pulled her self out of the bush, catching sight of Parker again. "Booth? Maybe you and Parker should head over to the nearest campsite. I'm sure a couple of these guys can help you get a fire going and the tent set up in no time. You're probably ready for your hot dog now, aren't you?" Brennan directed the last part of her statement down to Parker who nodded.

"I can set up a tent and get a fire going on my own," Booth protested.

Brennan rolled her eyes at his normal alpha-male routine before saying, "I didn't say you couldn't. But it'll be faster if you have some help and I'm sure Parker's starving. It's just a suggestion Booth."

Quickly deciding that now wasn't the time for another argument, Booth nodded tiredly, picking up Parker and directing a couple of the FBI agents who had come out on the search with Zack and Brennan to gather up his stuff. As the four of them walked out of the campsite, he could faintly hear Brennan telling Zack to look at the bones himself and see what conclusions they could draw and directing another to find a saw so they could start removing the bush that was hampering their investigation.

* * *

Once again, please read and review and let me know if you want me to continue this story. If I only get a couple of reviews again, I'll probably stop it for now. 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 –

Disclaimer – I don't own Bones, blah, blah, blah.

AN – I was hoping to update this Wednesday evening, but I got really discouraged after seeing that they had canceled the new Bones ep. I understand why, and it makes sense, but I still wanted to see it. :( On the other hand, I really do enjoy "aliens in a spaceship." I find the whole scene where Booth, Hodgins, Zack and Cam and the others are staring down at the expanse of, well dirt, and then Booth catching the little puff from the bomb, and the running, and rescues, very emotional. I don't cry at movies, I'm not sure why, but I never have. But this set of scenes always makes me feel it, and I can almost feel myself tear up.

Thanks for reviewing the last chapter. Eight reviews is better than two, but I was still hoping for more. However, I decided to take _Goldpieces_ advice, and try to focus on the fact that few reviews doesn't mean people aren't reading and enjoying.

However, reviews really do make my day and it's always nice to _hear_ (well _read_) that people like it. If this was a perfect world, I'd always receive a minimum of ten reviews per chapter, but I'll take what I can get.

Now… read the chapter and enjoy (hopefully).

* * *

It only took about 20 minutes to reach the new campsite. Even though Parker had seemed to regain his energy upon seeing Dr. Brennan, it was only a few minutes after leaving the site when he began to lag again. This time it didn't matter to Booth that he needed to carry his son as he had two extra FBI agents tagging along who were carrying all of the gear he had hauled up originally.

Upon reaching the new campsite, the three adults did a quick search of the site making sure there were no more bones or body parts to be found. Once they were satisfied, Booth had one Agent work on setting up the tent, while he and the remaining Agent set about getting the fire going.

He knew it seemed kind of odd to be setting up the tent when it was almost for certain that he wouldn't be spending his week camping out here as originally planned. But he had Parker to think about, and the little boy was starting to feel the excitement of the day catch up with him and was now half-heartedly planning with Ellant and leaning against his backpack.

So Booth planned on getting those hot dogs cooked so that there would be at least one promise that he did manage to keep to his son before putting his son in the tent for the night. At least someone might as well get some sleep that evening.

* * *

An hour later Booth was trekking back to the original campsite with one of the Agents at his side. He'd left the other one sitting beside the fire keeping watch as Parker slept in the tent. Luckily, the day had been draining for the little boy, and it hadn't taken much persuasion to convince him he needed to go to bed.

Which was a good thing, considering Booth had been feeling so guilty about the whole evening that he'd broken out the making for s'mores as they were finishing up the hot dogs. At least there had been enough of those ingredients to share with his fellow Agents.

The two Agents had had to sit there trying not to look hungry as Booth and Parker inhaled their hot dogs. Booth felt a little guilty, but not much. After all, he wasn't expecting company and since they didn't have a lot of packing space he'd only packed enough hot dogs for the two of them for one night.

As they entered into the original campsite Booth found himself once again impressed with how quickly the FBI, and Bones for that matter, could set up. The campsite was flooded with light coming from three different portable flood lights set up to provide maximum coverage. There was also a portable table set up that currently was holding a part of the skeleton, including Parker's infamous femur. But what shocked Booth the most were the bushes. Well, lack of bushes would be more accurate. In order to have access to the remains they had cut away all the bushes. Bushes, or parts of the bushes were being placed into large paper bags for transport back to the lab so Hodgins could check them out. They had been in contact with the body for an obvious long period of time and would provide clues about the decomposition rate.

Brennan and Zack were kneeling in the dirt by the body. In between them was a wooden contraption set up over a piece of plastic sheeting. Booth recognized it immediately as the sieve the squints often used when uncovering bodies. They'd shovel out thin layers of dirt and place in on the sieve so that they could catch even the smallest pieces of bone they might have missed otherwise. Currently the entire skeleton lay exposed before them, minus the left leg, whose pieces were sitting on the portable table.

Ditching the Agent, Booth headed over to his squints to see what conclusions they had come to.

"Hey," Booth said softly, crouching down beside them. He'd learned quickly in his early work with Brennan not to speak too loudly when approaching her from behind. She had almost floored him the first time he'd made that mistake. However, there was something about speaking soft and quietly that seemed to seep into her consciousness and he was willing to do anything to not be attacked again.

Brennan didn't stop working to acknowledge him, although he had seen her flinch when he spoke. Zack, on the other hand, did stop and turned to look at the Agent.

"Hi Agent Booth." Since receiving his doctorate, Zack had gained a lot of confidence and was now willing to step up and speak with the Agent. He'd finally realized that to be "one of the guys" didn't mean he had to be ignored.

"Zack," Booth smiled at the young Doctor and clasped his shoulder. "What have you guys found out?"

"Well, at first glance the remains appear to be male. Probably 30 – 35 years old. My guess is Caucasian."

"Zack," Brennan warned her former protégé.

"Sorry Dr. Brennan," Zack blushed, before continuing. "But of course that can't be confirmed until we're back at the lab, since racial profiling is very difficult and not one hundred percent accurate. He's very decomposed and since the weather has only started to really thaw out the last month or so after the persistent freak snow storms, I'd say he's been here since at least last fall, probably last summer."

"You mean to say that people probably camped here while he was…" Booth trailed off, pointing at the skeleton while wincing. "Wouldn't they have smelled something?"

"Yes, the smell would've been quite horrid," Zack confirmed. "But we have yet to determine when this campsite was last used. We've collected samples from the campfire pit to have Hodgins analyze."

"Don't forget," for the first time Brennan actively involved herself in the conversation, "it's quite possible that people arrived at this campsite, thought there was a dead animal near by and moved on. Unfortunately, because of the smell, people rarely search out the cause." The last part was said in disgust. As if it should be people's duties to determine if there is body present. "That's why we have so many bones in limbo. Not all of them were very well hidden, it is more likely that at some point shortly after their death, someone was quite close by to the victim, but was turned off the area by the smell. Therefore we don't locate the body until years later and have a much harder time solving the case."

"Got it Bones," Booth tried to head her off from continuing her lecture. "If you smell something funny, it's best to search out the cause."

"Exactly," Brennan didn't seem to notice that he was trying to prevent the continued thread of conversation and continued on her spiel, "but then again, it's possible that people found the body and never reported it in."

"But that's illegal," Booth exclaimed.

"Yes it is," Brennan nodded her head. "There have been many studies done on crowd theory over the years. It's actually quite fascinating. Do you remember the case involving a young women who was murdered in New York a few years back? It happened right outside her apartment building and there were over 30 witnesses, but no one did anything to help her even though she was screaming for help. One of the theories that has been tested and written about is how when a person feels they are part of a crowd, they tend to abandon their social responsibility. These witnesses didn't want to become involved, and since they knew they weren't the only one witnessing the act, they left the responsibility of action to the other witnesses. However, if everyone feels this way, the no one ever ends up acting. There have also been interesting studies looking into how leaders are able to gather a crowd and form it into a corporation, with many of these having a religious edge. By using these theories about crowds, people, often religious figures, are able to control their followers."

Booth tried to calm his uprising anger as she managed to turn an inane conversation/lecture into an attack on religion. "Okay Bones, we got it, you don't like religion and anyone who believes in it is part of a cult."

"I didn't say that Booth," Brennan turned to look at Booth, meeting his gaze head on. "Although, now that you mention it, there are a lot of similarities between organized religion and cults."

"Can it Bones," Booth snapped, before counting to ten silently in his head as he attempted to control his anger.

"Can what?" a confused expression took over her face. "I don't feel the need to can anything."

"It's an expression Bones," Booth sighed tiredly, lowering his voice so that any of the agents near by would be unable to hear him. "I don't want to fight, not tonight, please."

Brennan paused, opened her mouth to say something, but apparently thought better of it. Instead, she nodded silently and turned back to her work.

"Um Agent Booth?" Zack spoke up hesitantly and Booth swung around to face him, having forgotten he was there.

"Yeah Zack?"

"I think you'd also find it interesting that we located a ring," Zack moved to a stack of things that were laying on some plastic sheeting next to him and pick up the small metal circle before passing it over to Booth, along with a pair of latex gloves.

"Was he wearing it?" Booth questioned as he slid on one of the gloves so he could examine the ring closely.

"No," Zack shook his head. "It looks like he probably had it clenched in his hand." Zack held up a hand forming it into a fist as an example. "It looks kind of small too," Zack noted.

"It's not the size of the rock, it's the thought that counts," Booth replied absently as he examined the ring. It was very simple, just a small gold band with a single diamond. There didn't appear to be an engraving in it either. In fact, it looked like a ring whose design would probably show up in every ring catalog in the world. But Zack was right, the ring did appear quite small. "Hey Zack, are you sure this body is male?"

"Yes, why?"

"Because I'm pretty sure this ring belonged to a female."

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Thanks for reading. :) Please take a moment, just a few seconds to let me know what you think. What do you want to see more of, less of, keep the same? Improvements/criticisms, I can take it all.

I don't remember the name of the women that Brennan mentions, and I have to admit I'm not even positive if New York is the right city. I do remember reading about this, and seeing the case on one of those shows like Forensic Files or Cold Cases.

Crowd theory can be really interesting. What I wrote about it may not be completely true, I didn't really do any research. I briefly read parts of the wikipedia page (which we all know isn't a incredibly reliable source) and what I could recall from what I heard about that case and psych classes I took in University.

I realize that stuff seems to be moving really slowly in the case, but I'm having trouble figuring out how much detail to include, and what areas I can skip. Some of it is just so easy to write, like the Parker interaction. But I'm thinking that I might just skip to them being out of the woods in the next chapter and back in DC. What do you guys think?

Once again, please take a moment to review.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 –

Normal disclaimer, as usual – I don't own anything except a copy of Bones season 1, and a copy of all of Kathy Reich's books.

Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter. I meant to update a couple of days ago, but was having a hard time with this chapter. I hope I succeeded in portraying when I meant to in the following. I have a little note at the bottom that addresses this.

Please keep on reviewing. They feed my muse.

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Dawn was approaching, the sunlight creeping through the trees as Zack and Brennan finally finished wrapping up their belongings. The flood lights were being dismantled by a couple of the FBI Agents and the skeleton had been packed away into Styrofoam boxes for protection during transport.

All in all, the skeleton was quite clean after spending its time outdoors. The odd bit of tissue and muscle still clung to the bones, but for the most part everything had decomposed away, or had been eaten by scavengers. There had been some definite bite marks on a few of the bones, although not ones that resembled anything from a human. Also, the bones hadn't remained in perfect alignment, a few of them being pulled slightly away from the body. Luckily, the cover provided by the bushes had prevented any of the larger animals from accessing the body and stealing away the bones. After a cursory examination, it appeared that they had managed to retrieve everything.

Standing up, Brennan arched her back, stretching her hands over her head. Being crouched down for hours on end was not kind to ones back. But, like normal, she hadn't realized how sore and stiff she was becoming until they stopped. However, all of her stuff was now packed away and ready for transport. The only stuff still laying about belonged to the FBI, and as much as she enjoyed helping them, she knew they could pack up their own belongings. Telling Zack that she'd be back soon with Parker and Booth, she headed out of the campsite/crime scene towards the second campsite.

As much as she dreaded seeing Booth again she was excited about seeing Parker. She had only had a chance to see him for a couple of minutes the night before, and had been too distracted at the time by the thought of the bones. While she hadn't changed her mind or stance on having kids she would admit that being around Parker could be a lot of fun. She just wasn't ready or willing to bring in another child of her own.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on her current mood, things with Booth had seemed to be spiraling out of control lately and she actually found herself dreading their approaching one-year anniversary. The problem with a work place relationship, she thought for the umpteenth time, was that all your co-workers saw both of you almost every day and knew when things weren't going great. Instead of work being an escape from her current situation she had Angela playing therapist and Booth was still showing up almost daily.

The little fights, which had started a few months ago, had recently started entering their working relationship as well. They had had an all out screaming fight over who knows what only a couple of weeks ago. They may have been in her office with the door closed at the time but it had done little to muffle their words and anger. She had refused to leave her office for the rest of the day afterwards, knowing that everyone had heard them. Booth had stormed out, slamming her office door shut after him, the bang echoing through the large building, just a final emphasis on her embarrassment.

She had spent a lot of her time alone recently contemplating the apparent demise of their relationship. She knew things had happened pretty quickly when they had got together. But that's how most things in her life worked. She was big on thinking things through, but also knew that if she dwelled too long on anything, she could easily convince herself as to why it is not a good idea. So for once, she had followed her heart (and Angela) and allowed herself to be swept up into the whirlwind that was/is her relationship with Booth. Before she knew it, she was moving in with him. Soon after that she had tossed aside her ideas on the antiquity of marriage and was accepting his proposal. The only part of their relationship that had seemed to follow more on her rules than his, was that they had a very small wedding. Of course, she had given into him late one night when he requested that they get married at a catholic church, but she still blamed that lapse of judgment on the fact that he had woken her up in the middle of the night after she hadn't slept for the past couple of days, too busy working on a case. She had told him yes, if only so she could go back to sleep.

Things had happened quickly once they got married. Booth suggested that they look for a house instead of staying in the apartment they currently shared. It had made sense; she had rationalized to herself, as they were storing a large number of items in storage. Soon their weekends had been spent wandering the various neighborhoods and suburbs of the city with a realtor.

They had had a few fights over the house. Booth wanted one with at least four, preferably five, bedrooms, something she didn't see as necessary. She was only concerned with looking for two bedrooms, one for them and one for Parker. They had 'compromised' on that by finding a house with four bedrooms. One of the extra was being used as a guest room, and the other as her office. The actual study that came with the house had been taken over as Booth's office as it was smaller and she was the one who needed more room. They had also debated over location. He wanted to be out in the suburbs (better schools and locations to raise kids he'd argued, to which she'd replied Parker already has a school, and thankfully he had let it go there), and she wanted to be near work. Luckily they had found a house on the edge of the city. It wasn't technically part of the suburbs, but was close enough that Booth could pretend. And it was only a 20 minute car ride to work for her, which was doable, since she knew at the speeds she drove, she could make it there in 15.

Then it came time to figure out how to finance for the house. Booth had been putting away money for the last few years towards a down payment, but she had even more set aside from the royalties on her books. Booth had wanted them to go in on it equally, as that's what they always considered their status to each other; equals. But she had argued that it made more sense to put down more money down initially so that they could pay off their mortgage faster. It had taken a lot of convincing, before Booth reluctantly agreed. She hadn't understood the problem until she had talked to Angela about it who mentioned that Booth, as a man with strong alpha-male tendencies, would be feeling like he let down his family when he wasn't contributing as much as she was.

So after they had finally moved into their house, she followed Angela's advice and called on Booth to complete 'manly task' after 'manly task' to up his ego (even though she thought his was healthy enough. Although, she had ended up going overboard trying to stroke his ego when she called him over to 'kill the spider kill the spider.' He had just looked at her, this weird look on his face, before cupping her face in his hands and saying, "I know what you're doing Bones, and thanks, but I'm okay. I didn't marry you so that you could become a damsel in distress, I love you just the way you are."

Life together had become a lot better after that admission. They had settled into a routine and both seemed happy. Parker spent at least every other weekend with them. She would take him to museums, parks and the library, encouraging his curious nature, while Booth continued to revel in roughhousing, and playing sports and video games with his son.

Things had gone great for a few months and then all of a sudden, the little fights they had always had, had become more important. Instead of just agreeing to disagree, as they often had in the past, they would push their point more and more, insisting that they were right. The toilet seat being left up now seemed like the end of the world to her, the same way that her staying late (or all night) at work would drive Booth nuts. Soon they both found themselves distancing themselves from each other. Instead of driving one car into the city, she would get up early just so that she could leave in her own car before Booth was awake. Booth stopped coming by the Jeffersonian to get her to go to lunch with him. In the evenings that they both actually made it to the house, one would hole up in their office waiting for the other to head to bed and fall asleep before joining them. She knew, that as much as she wasn't sure exactly what was happening with their relationship, she took comfort in the fact that she always woke up with Booth sleeping beside her. Although, even that wasn't the same as when they had first got married. She use to wake up curled up in his embrace, now you could draw a line down the bed between them. The line may have been invisible, but it seemed like a brick wall and neither had inched past it in the last couple of months.

Angela had questioned her repeatedly on what was going on, but she hadn't been able to give her an answer that would satisfy either of them. She knew she had begun to second-guess the speed at which everything had occurred a few months earlier. But it didn't appear to be just her that was having second thoughts, but Booth as well, and that scared her. Letting him in had been one of the scariest things she had ever done in her life, and she'd been held at gunpoint more than once. She had seemed to come to an unconscious decision a few weeks ago to rebuild the walls around her heart. She wasn't sure she could take it if Booth left her.

Parker's laughter floating through the trees pulled her out of her daydreams and back to reality. In the meantime, she would enjoy the little time she may have left with Parker.

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Well, please review again! I'm thinking of holding out for 10 reviews (min) per chapter before posting the next one. :)

This chapter I found quite difficult to write. I was going to just jump forward to them being back at the lab and working on the case, but felt that I needed to somewhat address what was going on with Booth and Brennan. The way I see and understand Bren's character she doesn't seem to understand how relationships _really_ work past all the anthropological mumble-jumble she can regurgitate. So even if it her relationship was falling apart because of her (which it sort of is in this case), I see her immediately thinking about how she can protect herself, not what is she doing wrong and how to fix it. I hope that's what I managed to portray above, as that's what I was going for… Anyhoo, next chapter, back to the lab.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 –

Disclaimer - I don't own them. I'm just borrowing the characters for some entertainment. :)

Thanks to everyone who reviewed. While I may not be getting a large quantity of reviews, those of you who are replying have such great comments! I get a huge smile on my face each time I read one. So those of you who've reviewed before, please keep them coming, and those of you haven't reviewed yet, I'd still love to hear what you think.

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The hike back to the cars had been fairly uneventful. Parker actually managed to walk the entire route. Most likely this was thanks to all the people he was with and the equipment they were carrying. He had scurried from one person to the next asking question after question, only moving on when he finally knew that he was annoying them, or Booth or Brennan gently nudged him on.

Besides Parker's energetic chatter and some soft conversation between a couple of the FBI agents, there wasn't much talking. Everyone seemed to read the tension that always seemed to fill the air when Booth and Brennan had to spend more than a few minutes in each other's company.

However, neither Booth or Brennan noticed the lack of noise, both too caught up in their own thoughts and only emerging long enough to say something quick to Parker. About half way through the hike back, they ended back upon the main trail that many day hikers used. It was obviously well traveled and unlike the earlier trail, could easily fit two people walking side by side. It wasn't long before Brennan and Booth had both naturally synced their walking patterns and were walking side by side. However, had any of their companions pointed it out, both of them would have been surprised, to lost in their own thoughts to see what they had done out of habit.

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With a relieved sigh, Brennan placed her coffee on her desk, before dropping her bag onto her chair and the stack of folders she had been precariously balancing onto the desk beside the coffee. She loved being out in the field learning about all the different things that needed to be accomplished in order for a killer to be caught and, if there was a body to preserve, she insisted on being there. However, the all-nighter spent uncovering the remains including the hike both in and out with out sleep was finally catching up to her.

Her gaze moved unconsciously towards her sofa. Sleep. A power nap was sounding incredibly inviting at the moment. She picked up her cup of coffee again, urging the aroma and caffeine to help perk her up. Swallowing the last couple of mouthfuls she immediately let out a large yawn. Apparently even caffeine wasn't going to be able to keep her up. Giving in, Brennan tossed the paper cup towards her recycling bin, before moving to the couch. Lying down, she pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and immediately curled up under it. Before she had a chance to think about everything she needed and wanted to accomplish that day she was out.

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Booth waved good-bye to Parker after dropping him off with a museum guide for a tour and a promise to meet him for lunch in a couple of hours. He then turned to head towards the lab portion of the building letting himself in with his security card.

He had planned on spending the previous night aiding Bones and Zack, but that idea had been quickly dashed. He had watched them for an hour before Bones had informed him tersely that his staring wasn't going to help them go any faster and would he please just go away. He'd taken his cue, and headed back to the second campsite where he'd relieved the FBI agent who had been watching Parker. He thought of just sitting by the campfire, hoping that Bones would relent and he'd be called back to the crime scene. However, after an hour of unproductively poking the fire with a stick he'd found, and his yawns becoming more frequent, he ended up crawling into the tent beside Parker and catching a few hours of rest.

Now that they were back in the city with leads to follow and clues to hunt down, he was glad that he'd managed to get any sleep. Who knew when he'd be able to lie down next?

Walking through the lab he headed directly for Brennan's office. As much as she preferred to be out on the lab floor, he knew her habit dictated that she would first go by her office to drop off all her papers and do a quick check of her email.

The light was on when he got there, but he didn't get any response when he knocked on the door. Opening it slowly, so not to startle her if she just hadn't heard him, he was surprised to find her curled up under a blanket on the couch fast asleep. Although, when he thought back over the prior 24 hours he had to admit that he was glad she was getting some much needed rest. Not only had she had to hike in and out of the campsite, but she hadn't had a chance to just sit down and rest in between, instead immediately starting on the bones and not stopping until everyone was ready to leave. And even though there were many extra hands to help carry items back out to the car, she had still insisted on carrying her own bags as well as the container with the skull after saying that she didn't trust anyone else to be careful enough.

The entire walk back, besides his occasional comments to Parker, Booth had been lost in thought. He had let his mind wander, filling in a pretend conversation that he would be having with Bones if they (he, Bones and Parker) had been out actually camping and were just finishing their trip instead of it being cut short. It was wishful thinking he knew, but he couldn't help himself.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he knelt down by the couch, placing his hand softly on Bone's shoulder. Shaking it lightly he called out, "Bones. Bones. Come on Bones, it's time to wake up now." He wish he could let her sleep, but there was work to be done and she'd have to do with her short catnap until that night.

"Hmm?" Bones shifted slightly and her head moving towards her shoulder where his hand rested. Taking a chance, since he knew she was still asleep enough she wouldn't remember, he moved his hand, running it through her hair. They hadn't had any real physical contact in a few weeks, besides casually brushing against each other when trying to pass by through doorways. However, none of the contact had been done on purpose, both too weary in the others company of what a touch might mean.

"Bones," he called out again and this time her eyes opened. He quickly pulled his hand back to his side and stood up. He gave her a moment to sit up and gather herself together before launching into his reason for being there. "We need you to start analyzing those bones right away. There's a senator that has been missing for about 5 months now and so they want to know if this is him."

"Did he go missing in the state park?" Bones asked, standing up and moving back to her desk and finally sorting through the files she had dropped there earlier while purposely not looking at Booth.

"The last place he was seen was downtown DC."

"And yet they think this body that was found out in the middle of a state park could be him? I doubt it Booth," Bones shook her head, pulling out the file pertaining to their current case and moving towards her door which lead out into the lab.

"I thought you didn't make guesses and only worked with facts," Booth joked as she passed him and she sent a glare his way. "Fine, fine, sorry." Booth held up his hands as if to ward off an attack and sent his charm grin her way. "We just need to know if it _is_ him or not so we can move forward with the case."

"It shouldn't matter if this body belonged to a senator or not. Either way, this person is dead and deserves to have his story told and his family notified," Brennan emphasized her point by shaking a finger in the air while lecturing. "I don't understand this… this hierarchy society applies to the value of human life. We're all humans and therefore should all be valued equally. It shouldn't matter what job someone was able to obtain over their lifetime as to what type of care they receive once they're dead, or more precisely what type of care they receive while _living_."

"Okay, sorry, I don't make the rules," Booth took a step backwards, hands still in the air. "I agree with you, and I'd like to know who this person is and how he died. However, the higher ups, the ones who sign my paycheck, insist on putting more weight and pressure on cases involving people that are 'higher up.'" He moved forwards towards her and almost slung an arm around her shoulders as he would've only weeks earlier. Instead, he stopped mid-motion and instead just gestured towards the lab with a soft sigh, his voice dropping, "Come on Bones, we've got work to do."

"You mean I've got work to do," Bones corrected him, giving him almost a hint of a smile before moving determinedly up the stairs to where the body was laid out. Booth had stopped suddenly when he saw the hint of the smile. Did she really just give that to him? Maybe things weren't so hopeless after all. With a grin spreading widely across his face he broke into a quick jog and followed after her.

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Well, there ends another chapter. I know not much happened in this one (although look, they're back in the lab finally!!) but I liked that it shows that they both (Bren and Booth) want their relationship to succeed but seem unable to see where they fit into the problem. Ie both of them miss the physical contact they use to share as seen by Bren in the last chapter over the sleeping arrangements and Booth's touch while she's sleeping this time and aborted attempt to place his arm around them. However, they are struggling to find their place in their problem so they can learn how to mend the gap.

If you have a moment (or can find one) please take the time to let me know what you think. You don't have to have an account with to review my stories. :)


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 –

Disclaimer – Still don't own them. Wish I did. I'd love to work in Hollywood, but that doesn't work too closely with my current ambition of a Masters in Computer Science… eh who knows, right? Maybe one day I'll be one of those expert consultants who groans when they don't follow my advice on what is realistic. grin 

Well it's been a few days (and I got my 10 reviews a couple of days ago – although no more reviews after those 10 :( ). Anyway, I've finally got the motivation and figured out what to write so here is the next chapter! I hope you enjoy, it's back to the science-y stuff. :)

Sorry, not much BB action, but hey Hodgins makes an appearance.

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Booth had stood, leaning against the side railing, for over an hour as Zack and Brennan did a careful examination of the bones. Finally, Brennan sent Zack off to clean the bones and stepped towards him.

"Well, I agree with my earlier estimates. It is definitely a male between the ages of 30-35. The bones are very well decomposed, which leads me to the conclusion that he has been dead since sometime at least last fall before the weather had a chance to get cold enough for him to freeze. Three of his ribs are broken as well as his left ulna and radius. There are signs that he hemorrhaged around his brain from a hit to the skull at the rear of the parietal bone, close to where it joins the occipital." At Booths confused expression she sighed and pointed to the spot on her own head, not quite halfway up the back of her head in the center. Booth nodded, touching the spot on his own head and giving a wince.

"So he was kicked in the ribs, had his arm broken, and was hit on the back of the head?" Booth clarified. "I hope he fought back."

"No, that's the odd thing," Bren shook her head while looking back at the body. "There's absolutely no sign of defensive wounds. He doesn't appear to have even raised a finger to protect himself."

"That is odd," Booth nodded his head in agreement, even though he knew she wasn't looking at him. After a short pause, he moved on to the next part of the case, identification. "Is Angela working on a face yet?"

"Not yet," Brennan turned back to face him. "Once Zack has the skull cleaned he'll put the markers on it and get it right to her. I think she should have a face by this evening, or at least by tomorrow morning. Depends how tough the skull is to clean."

"I thought you said the bones were already quite clean," Booth was confused again.

"They were, mostly. But the skull has a lot of nooks and cranny which dirt and particles get lodged into. He needs to careful to retrieve as much of that as possible for Hodgins."

"Hodgins' didn't get enough out of all those buckets that were brought back?" Booth grimaced at the memory of those heavy buckets; he had lugged one back himself. "So what else can we do for now?"

"Well I don't know what _we_ can do," Brennan replied, emphasizing the 'we.' "But I am going to go help Zack with the bones. You can do whatever you want."

Brennan turned to leave but was stopped by Hodgins who came jogging up to them.

"Wait, wait." Hodgins called out, slightly out of breath as he stopped in front of them.

"Man, you are out of shape," Booth slapped Hodgins on the shoulder. "I would've thought with Angela that you'd be getting a _ton_ of exercise." Booth winked at the other man who gave him a sly look in return.

"I am," Hodgins nodded, "It just means that I'm not getting enough sleep each night."

"Ugh, men," Brennan looked at the two in disgust and stormed off before Hodgins could inform them why he had tagged them down.

The two watched her leave, before Hodgins turned back to Booth. "And obviously dude, you're not getting enough." He took a couple of steps back waiting for the hit that never came. Instead, Booth just looked resigned.

"I wish I was getting _any_," Booth mumbled softly, but loud enough that Hodgins heard anyway.

"Man that's _rough_," Hodgins shook his head. "But I've got just the thing to distract you." He held up the few sheets of paper he was clutching tightly in one hand. "So I was looking through the soil you guys brought back and I found something interesting. The bush you brought back was of the _Lonicera _species, which means you actually did the park a favor. They're an invasive non-native plant and the Rock Creek Park staff has been fighting these invasive non-native plants for a while. They're slowly killing our national parks."

"Okay Hodgins get to the point. I don't need a lesson on national park health."

"Yeah well, if everyone has your attitude, it's no wonder are national parks are been systematically destroyed. Although actually, I think that it's a government conspiracy. What's one of the few areas they don't control right now? Our right to breathe clean air. Just imagine what would happen if they were in control of the few parks left that were able to help filter and produce that clean air."

"Hodgins…" Booth drew out his name in a warning tone that was much like the one he used on Parker when he was misbehaving and seemed to work well on the squints as well as Hodgins immediately shut up.

"Sorry, so like I was saying, the bush was of the _Lonicera _species."

"I thought it looked like a honey suckle."

"That's just what I said," Hodgins rolled his eyes. Sometimes, even after the few years of Booth working with them, they forgot that while he had picked up on quite a few terms he still didn't know most of them. "Anyway, like I started saying, was that ground into the bits of clothes you found and in the soil underneath him were pine needles form a _Pinus virginia_."

"Well there was a stand of trees next to the bushes. I bet that's where the pine needles came from."

"No no no," Hodgins shook his head. "I mean, yeah, they could've come from those trees, but these pine needles were stuck to our victims clothes. That means somehow he was in contact with at _Pinus virginia_…" he trailed off at Booths stormy look. "I mean Virginia Pine. Anyway, the way the needles are embedded in the clothing, I would almost think he was rolling around on them…" He raised an eyebrow while looking at Booth. "Just thought you'd want to know. Oh, and from the few species of …" Once again Booth's look prevented him from using the normal latin terms. "Species of beetles that you guys brought back, it looks like he died sometime last August."

"Thanks Hodgins," Booth pushed away from the railing and started walking to the stairs that led away from the lab platform.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"Now that I have a time frame I'm going to start searching the missing person's databases. I might as well try to do _something_. If anyone asks, I'll be back by lunch, I'm meeting up with Parker." With a quick wave of his hand, Booth headed out the door.

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After watching Booth disappear Hodgins headed over to see Brennan, knowing she'd want to know about his findings. Approaching her office, he knocked lightly on the doorframe even though the door was open.

"Come in," Brennan didn't look up from where she was sitting at her desk and typing away furiously.

Hodgins walked in, and sank into the seat that was pulled up opposite her desk, waiting for her to finish whatever she was doing.

A few moments later, she pushed away from her desk with a sigh. "Sorry Jack, just trying to catch up with a few emails. I swear the pour in faster than I can read and reply. Who knew that forensic anthropology was becoming such a popular subject."

"That's okay," Hodgins passed his few pages of notes to her. "I just wanted to catch you up on what I've discovered so far." He didn't expand more than that, knowing that she'd be able to get the gist of it from his notes, and would ask for any clarifications she needed.

"So, looks like he died last August?" Brennan half stated and questioned as she placed the pages she'd finished reading down.

"Yep," Hodgins nodded.

"I guess I better let Booth know," Brennan stood up.

"I already told him," Hodgins let her know. "And he's gone off to the FBI building to search through the missing persons database."

"Oh," Brennan tried to keep the look of disappointment off her face, but she knew she was failing when Hodings reached out and placed a hand on her arm.

"Sorry, I was going to tell you both, but you walked away," Hodgins gave her a guilty smile, since he knew it was his fault. He may not have a charm smile like Booth's, but his smile was still good enough to help him out when he knew he'd done something wrong. "He did say he'd be back by lunch since he's meeting Parker."

"Oh," Brennan felt like a broken record. "I… thanks for letting me know."

Hodgins just nodded and left the office as quickly as he could. He needed to catch up with Angela. He just knew she'd be fascinated with everything he'd learned today from Booth and Brennan. She'd been desperately trying to figure out what was going on with the two of them and hadn't had any luck yet.

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Once Hodgins left, Brennan rested her arms on her desk and let her head fall down on top of them. Letting out a long sigh, she took several deep breaths, trying to get the headache that was brewing to leave her alone.

After a few unsuccessful minutes passed by, she pulled open one of the desk drawers, and reaching deep into pulled out her trusty bottle of Advil. She popped a couple into her mouth and swallowed them dry before laying her head back down on her forearms. What she wouldn't give to be able to go to bed.

She tried not to let her mind wander, trying to focus instead on the details of the case. But she couldn't prevent her thoughts from always going back to the fact that Booth had left without saying good-bye. Even though they'd been fighting or whatever it was called, since fighting didn't seem to be the correct term, for a couple months now Booth had never left without letting her know. Was this a new step for their relationship? A step in the _wrong _direction that is.

Shaking her head, Brennan lifted her head and pushed off the desk to her feet. She wouldn't let herself dwell on this any longer. She never managed to get anywhere with her thoughts except becoming more depressed and despondent. She'd go do what she had originally intended to do, help Zack.

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As Booth entered his office he shrugged off his jacket and tossed it onto the back of his chair before he sank into it, grabbing his computer mouse and moving it around to bring the computer back to life.

It wasn't until he was halfway through typing his password that he froze. He hadn't realized what he'd done; he'd been too caught up in the moment. But now as his mind raced back over the conversation with Hodgins and then leaving the lab he realized he hadn't seen Bones since she'd left when Hodgins and his conversation had strayed from a strictly work related topic.

And if he hadn't seen Bones before he left then that meant, he'd left without saying goodbye.

Of course, that doesn't seem like such a huge deal, but one of the first hurdles that he and Bones had gotten over was their fear that everyday, every moment that they saw each other could be their last.

While Bones job wasn't inherently dangerous, she was involved in a lot of top-secret cases for the American government and its allies, and then you'd have to add in the fact that she was now working almost full time as an FBI consultant on high profile murder cases. And of course, being a special agent himself, Booth knew very well the dangers of his job.

So as a compromise, they had promised each other that they would make sure that they always said good-bye. And now, he'd broken that promise too.

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Okay, just a few notes…

I looked up a park (Rock Creek Park) to try and get some information on what type of vegetation can be found in and around Washington DC. From what I saw in my brief skim, I don't think you can camp in Rock Creek. But hey, this is a story and I'm taking control of my creative license. I did find a page about how they're trying to fight the invasive non-native plants so that is true. :)

Okay, I've seen this comment/question come up a few times. No, I'm not going to make Brennan pregnant. Personally, I just don't want to deal with writing about an emotional Brennan, nor do I want to have to deal with the whole abortion issue and Booth's religiousness. I won't even state where I stand on the issue, because it is to be a very volatile issue. :) So not going there, at least not with this story.

Anyway, once again I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'm sorry it's taken a few days longer than I wanted to get this up, but I'd been lacking a bit of motivation and where I was going to go with this chapter. But tonight it just seemed to write itself so here it is. :)

You just took a few minutes of your life to read my story, please take a few more and let me know what you thought (Good or Bad, I can take it). I'll be watching my email all day tomorrow hoping for some reviews to come in.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 –

Disclaimer – I don't own, yadda yadda yadda. :)

Notes – Umm, please take a few extra moments to read the stuff at the end of the chapter, as it explains what I was going for in this chapter (in case I wasn't able to achieve it… not sure I did…)

Anyway, read, love or hate and please review. Let me know if you got what I was going for or if I was way off base.

And wish me luck on my run tomorrow. I've been taking up much of my recent spare time by trying to learn how to run. I'm using the couch to 5k program from cool-running and am onto week 5 run 2 tomorrow if it doesn't rain.

Now, onto the story…

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Booth and Brennan didn't see each other the rest of that day. Brennan was too upset, confused, and tired, that she purposely wasn't around when Booth arrived back at the Jeffersonian to meet Parker for lunch. Booth, on the other hand, did look for her, bringing Parker into the lab for a quick walk through of the offices while they tried to locate her. No one knew where she was, and since Angela hadn't been out there earlier she hadn't known about the lack of goodbye or that anything was more wrong than usual and therefore hadn't taken up residence in Brennan's office at any point to question her.

After ten minutes of searching (and calling her cell) Booth gave up and told Parker that she was obviously busy so they would just have a father-son lunch. And so as much as Parker was disappointed that they hadn't located Bones, he was happy to spend some more quality time with his dad.

That evening Brennan stayed late at the lab looking over the large pile of missing person photos that Booth had dropped off at lunch time. Everyone else had gone home for the evening, but she wasn't ready to deal with that yet. So she immersed her self in work, even though there wasn't much she could do.

The skull had been expertly cleaned with the tissue markers in place and placed on Angela's desk a few hours early by Zack. The rest of the bones were still in the process of being cleaned by the beetles and would be left over night and so were unavailable for examination. Hodgins had given her an update before he left, but nothing that was very useful yet. He'd found a few fibers that didn't seem to match what they believed the body had been wearing prior to its death, but had yet to identify where they were from. The few tissue samples, that had been recoverable, had been sent to the toxicology area of the lab to be analyzed, but the results weren't expected for at least another half day.

And so Brennan looked through files, worked her way through a stack of email, edited a chapter of her next book and cleaned her office in an attempt to distract herself and waste time. She was constantly staring at the clock trying to hurry it along with her thoughts and actions, even though she knew logically that it wasn't possible. She knew she should go home at some point, and that if she waited to long that Parker would already be in bed. Of course the problem remained that if she went home early enough to see Parker, then she would be there while Booth was still awake. But if she waited for them both to go to bed (in which case she almost might as well stay in the lab for the night) then she knew Parker would be upset as she hadn't spent any time with him except during the hike back from the campsite early that morning. _Had it really been only that morning?_ The thought shocked Brennan as it had felt like days had passed.

Looking at the clock, Brennan knew that if she left right then, she'd get there just in time to maybe read Parker a story and tuck him in. Pushing the thoughts that she'd have to deal with Booth to the back of her mind she quickly packed up her belongings, (and a stack of files for an excuse) and headed out.

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Parker greeted her enthusiastically with a hug the moment she opened the door into the house. He was already dressed in his favorite pajamas that were covered in dinosaurs and his hair still wet from his bath.

"Bones, Bones, you're home!" Parker wouldn't let go of her arm, as if he thought she'd disappear if he wasn't holding on.

"Just a minute Parker," Brennan replied, laughter coating her voice. _This was definitely a good idea_, her conscience told her, _you haven't smiled in a long time_. She dropped her belongings that she was perilously maintaining her grip on, onto the table that was near the entrance that usually held their mail. Once her arms were free she picked Parker up, setting him on her hip. "Parker, I think you're getting a little but big for this," she teased him, groaning loudly as if in agony.

"I'm not heavy," Parker shook his head, his wet hair sending water droplets spraying in all directions. "Daddy told me I'm as light as a feather!"

"Yeah, well you're dad's stronger than me," Brennan replied, moving on autopilot towards his bedroom. "Looks like you were in the process of going to bed," she commented as they entered his bedroom. The covers on his bed were pulled back hastily from his hurry to greet her at the door. And there was Booth, sitting back against the headboard, a book in his hands. She recognized that it belonged to the _Boxcar Children_ book series. It was above Parker's grade level, but he had quickly grasped onto the concepts of reading and she (along with Rebecca and Booth) had encouraged this growth and supplied him with books that were challenging but doable.

When Brennan and Parker had entered the room, Booth had sat up on the bed, closing the book that he had been secretly reading ahead in. Parker just read too slowly sometimes, and besides, since he wasn't always the one who read with him he'd miss the occasional chapter.

Standing up off the bed, it became an almost face off, with only Parker not realizing the tension that had immediately infused the room. Only a moment of silence had passed, as both adults struggling to find sometime to say, before Parker broke it.

"Come on Bones, you can read with me and daddy," Parker pointed at the bed.

"Daddy and me," Brennan corrected automatically, wincing as she did so. It was things like that, the automatic grammar and language corrections, that often made her stop and take notice that as much as she had tried to prevent it, she was now a parent. Ignoring Booths presence for the mean time, she moved towards Parker's bed, placing him down on it gently.

Parker reached out and grabbed his book and his dad's hand pulling him back towards the bed. "Come on daddy, you need to sit down too. I can read to both of you."

"Um buddy," Booth looked at Brennan wearily, "maybe you should just read to Bones tonight. I should go clean up the dishes from dinner."

"But _daddy_," Parker's voice turned to a whine. "You _promised_ that you'd read with me tonight."

Booth, unfortunately, didn't hear anything but the word promise, before his face went white as a sheet. He couldn't even raise his eyes to look at Bones before he bolted from the room. Booth could dimly hear Bones telling Parker that he could read to his dad in the morning in the background. Reaching the first floor in an almost run he went out through the kitchen onto the back patio, sitting down on the steps that over looked the backyard and trying to let the cool night air calm him down.

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After tucking Parker in and reassuring him that his dad wasn't mad at him and would be happy to listen to him re-read the book later Brennan stood in the upstairs hallway trying to decide what to do. Part of her knew that she should go and find Booth and try to talk to him, but another part of her resisted. She wasn't sure if she was ready for what they may or may not say. And so that part of her tried to direct her back to her files and case notes.

Moving downstairs became her first goal, since it didn't require a decision, as both objectives were down there. But once she reached the bottom step she paused again. She took a few hesitant steps towards the kitchen, where she could faintly see Booth's silhouette on the back porch before turning around and taking a few steps toward her discarded files that she'd dropped earlier before finally stopping mid-step again.

She forced herself to take a few deep breaths, trying to channel her concentration and use the meditation abilities she'd developed over the years of martial arts lessons. A few minutes later she had a purpose.

She grabbed her stack of files from the entryway and made her way over to the family room. Sinking down onto the couch, she started making her way through the files one by one.

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Booth wasn't sure how long he'd been out there before the coolness of the night started to catch up with him. Their house usually stayed quite warm well into the evening, and so he had been only wearing the light undershirt he wore under his dress shirt, which he had discarded earlier that evening.

Part of him had been waiting, silently hoping, that Brennan would come out and join him on the steps, but as the night grew darker, and he grew colder, no sounds came from behind him. The light from the kitchen that shone out onto where he sat had remained constant, so she hadn't even approached the window and looked out at him.

He had his elbows resting on his knees and his head in his hands as he thought over the last twenty-four hours. He knew he had screwed up, but it hurt that not only that she hadn't said anything to him since she'd arrived home, but she had never returned any of his calls when he had looked for her at lunchtime.

He sat out there a little longer, growing both colder and angrier. He shouldn't have to be the one who made all the first steps in the relationship. At some point she needed to step up too. _She's probably working away in her home office_, his thoughts taunted him. _Probably doesn't even have a clue that you're out here waiting. _

Deciding he shouldn't stay out there, left alone with his thoughts any longer he stood up and entered the house. He locked the door behind him and made his way through the kitchen, turning the lights off as went. As he passed the family room, he hit the switch, enveloping it in darkness, never seeing the sleeping form on the couch surrounded by files.

Making his way up the stairs (after checking and locking the front door) he tossed a glare at the door to Brennan's office before disappearing into their bedroom and collapsing onto the bed.

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Okay, I know you're all mad. You were probably oh so sure that she was going to go and see him when she went down the stairs. I hope you're feeling somewhat for both of them.

Brennan tried to make an effort, but she's just so unsure of herself that she didn't know what to do or how to do it. Instead, she made an effort that she could understand, she brought her stuff into the family room instead of hiding away in her office as she normally would. While it wasn't as much of a step forward as going out to him, it was a change from her past behaviour and she was waiting for him to come in. Sort of a 'meet you in the middle.' But, of course she's exhausted, she worked out in the field the whole past night and spent the entire day at the office trying to keep busy and awake and just wasn't able to stay up long enough for Booth to come inside.

And then there's Booth. He's upset, understandably. He's mad at himself, he was the one who made the mistake that afternoon, who broke the promise. But he's also mad at Brennan, because he feels like he's been the one who's always pushing forward and trying to fix mistakes (hey, she's stubborn, he's more likely to see both sides to the issue and find a way to fix it). And so by the time he comes back inside, he's so worked up in his anger that he isn't paying attention to his surroundings, only that he needs to turn out the lights and wants to go to bed. So he doesn't notice her sleeping in the family room, and glares at her office door where he expects she must be hiding out.

In a way, I think the balance has shifted between them. Before, Booth was confused and upset over what was happening, but now it's turning into anger. And Brennan is finally trying to reach out the only way she knows how and is comfortable with. So there's still hope, because hey, what's life (or fanfic's) without hope?

Okay, I hope the story was somewhat able to convey what I just wrote in the few paragraphs above. I just wrote this whole chapter in just under an hour (will edit in morning before I post).

Once again, please review review review. I almost wasn't going to post this chapter, because I've only received 8 reviews so far for the last chapter, but for those of you that are reviewing, this chapter is for you. :) So 10+ reviews please?


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 –

Disclaimer – look at first chapter.

Sorry this took so long, but I spent a lot of time thinking about how I wanted to get around the corner I had written myself into and I think I succeeded.

There's a nice long author's note after the chapter (as seems to be usual now) so I won't say anything more now.

I don't have a beta, and usually read over the chapters once either immediately after I finish (or first thing the following morning) to edit and then post. So all mistakes are mine, and feel free to point them out so I can correct them.

So read, review and most of all enjoy.

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Brennan woke to the sound of screaming. After falling off the couch (she had rolled over in shock and forgotten where she was) she scrambled to her feet before flying up the stairs in a hurry. She reached Parker's door in time to see Booth picking up his son and settling him on his lap.

The last thing she remembered was waiting for Booth to come in. So it was a surprise to see that he had beat her to Parker's bedroom since her mind still hadn't caught up with the fact that she had fallen asleep and expected him to be sitting outside.

As she entered the room Booth glanced up at her slowly and the flash of anger that crossed his face shocked her. She forced herself not to focus on it; instead, turning her attention to the reason she was up there in the first place, Parker.

Moving quickly towards the bed Brennan sat down close to Booth. Not close enough to be touching, as she would have in the past, but close enough that she could reach out and pat Parker on the back.

Booth had immediately turned his attention back to Parker after the initial glance in her direction. "Hey bub, did you have a bad dream?" he asked softly while rubbing his hand up and down Parkers arm in reassurance.

Parker mumbled a reply, but while the actual words were lost as he buried his head in his dad's chest, the accompanying nod was understood.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Parker shook his head violently from side to side.

"That's okay bub, we don't have to talk if you don't want to. We can just sit here for a while," Booth replied, pulling Parker closer to him.

A few minutes later Parker had calmed down enough to pull away slightly from his dad. Leaning back against his dad he turned his head slightly and finally realized Brennan's presence in the room.

"Bones!" Parker leaped out of his dad's arms and onto her lap.

"Are you feeling better now?" Brennan asked as she pulled him in for a tight hug. "That was some pretty loud screaming earlier."

"I was dreaming, and then there were monsters and they were chasing me," Parker replied.

"I hate when things chase me in my dreams," Brennan nodded her agreement. "But you know what's the best thing about nightmares Parker?" Brennan bent her head down to his ear, as if she was about to share a secret.

"Uh-uh," Parker shook his head, eyes wide.

"When you wake up, and you always do, we," she gestured to herself and Booth, " and your mom of course, will always be there by your side. You'll never be alone, and I promise that I will _never_ let a monster catch you." She poked him gently in the side eliciting a small smile.

"And that goes for me too," Booth moved closer to them, putting aside his feelings for Brennan as he worked to comfort his son.

"But what if I'm over at Jason's house?" Parker asked, a frown crossing his features. "You're not there then."

"If anything ever happens when you're with Jason or any of your friends, I promise that their parents will call me… us right away and we'll be there as fast as we can." Booth reassured him. "You'll never be too far away that I can't get to you."

Parker paused for a moment before asking "What if I'm on the moon? The moon's _really_ far away."

"Then I'd get a spaceship and come after you," Booth replied, trying to ignore the feeling of Brennan's eyes on him. "No matter where you are, I'll always be able to get there to be with you." Trying to avoid making eye contact with Bones, he pulled away from Parker and stood up. "How about you read one more chapter right now, and we'll see if we can't get you back to sleep."

At Parker's nod he picked the book up off the bookshelf and sat back down by Parker's pillow. Parker finally fully pulled away from Brennan and moved back up the bed to climb under the sheets.

Standing up Brennan moved towards the door before Parker stopped her. "Bones, you're not going to leave are you? What if the monsters are still there when I fall asleep?"

Smiling at the little boy logic, she shook her head and moved back towards the bed. "And miss a chance to hear you read? Never." She settled onto the bed on Parker's other side, leaning back against in pillow. After he tugged on her arm a few times, she finally slid down until she was lying beside him cuddled up.

Parker passed the book over to Booth. "I'm to tired to read, can you?"

"Sure thing bub," Booth opened the book and slowly began to read, his attention only half on what he was reading, the rest watching as Parker pulled Bones arm around him and the two drifted off to sleep.

It was moments like this that he found all of his anger, hurt, and frustration over their relationship just melt away and he was only able to recall the good things. It was a feeling he had sorely missed recently. And so even though he was awake enough to make it back to his room, he turned off the bedroom light and lay down beside Parker, falling asleep watching his two favorite people.

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Brennan woke up to her favorite sensation (or at least one of the top five). She still had her arm wrapped tightly around Parker's little body and he remained curled into her embrace. But what made it even better was Booth's arm that was draped across Parker with his hand resting just above her hip, fingers softly caressing her in his sleep. She hadn't realized until she awoke how much she missed the feelings his touch evoked and how empty she had been feeling recently without them.

Lifting her head up off the pillow she strained to read the time on Parker's _Toy Story_ alarm clock. Currently Buzz Lightyear had one arm pointed straight up and the other was pointing straight down. Six o'clock.

Booth always teased her about how strong her internal body clock was. No matter where she fell asleep, she was always awake at six in the morning. She hadn't even bothered setting an alarm clock for years as she was always lying awake when it went off anyways.

After lying there for a few more minutes her bladder made it self known and she was forced to get up. She slid her arm away from Parker, who shifted in his sleep, before reaching to her waist and grabbing Booth's hand in hers. She moved his arm until it was around Parker and watched as Parker instinctively cuddled towards his dad before finally able to slide from the bed leaving the two occupants undisturbed.

After lingering in the doorway for a few moments watching them sleep she headed to the master bedroom to get showered, dressed, and ready for the day.

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Brennan was in the middle of reading the newspaper and her second cup of coffee when she was joined by a half-asleep Parker and not much more awake Booth. She chuckled to herself as she watched Parker slide into his seat, resting his head on his arms and closing his eyes, while Booth went straight for the coffee and poured himself a cup, sighing with pleasure as he took his first sip.

"Good morning Parker," Brennan greeted her stepson, reaching out to ruffle his hair. "I'm surprised to see you up this early."

Parker just groaned and Booth voiced the answer for him. "Well, I need to go into the office this morning as it looks like I'm not longer on vacation." He moved over to the toaster popping a couple of pieces in. "I'm not sure where he can go this morning."

Brennan paused as her mind shifted over the facts and possible solutions. "I'm going to be really busy this morning, but if you can keep him until lunch, I could take him for the afternoon." She watched as he slathered one piece in peanut butter and the other with strawberry jam. "I'll still have some work to do, but he can hang out in my office or look at some more areas of the museum. Besides, I'm sure everyone will be willing to help out."

Booth moved over to the kitchen table placing his plate and mug down in front of his regular seat before moving back into the kitchen to grab breakfast supplies for Parker. As he moved about collecting the milk, cereal, bowl, spoon and a glass of orange juice, he nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I think that will work. I'll just take a book and some coloring supplies to keep him occupied in the morning."

"He'll probably fall back asleep for a while first," Brennan looked back over at Parker who appeared completely unaware that they were talking about him. She pushed back from the table, folding the newspaper and adding it to pile of sections she knew he read. Moving them over next to his plate she stood up. "I'll go put together a backpack for him."

She knew it was cowardly, but she wasn't ready to sit and pretend to be the perfect family that ate breakfast together everyday. Even during the best of times the whole idea of a perfect family bothered her as it reminded her of exactly what she had lost all those years earlier. Growing up her family had resembled exactly what people thought of when they were asked to define an American family: a mom and dad, brother and sister, and a dog. Okay, so they had been missing the white picket fence, but they had made up for that with the regular family breakfasts and dinners. As much as she tried to separate and not compare her current family with her memories there were many days where it was just too hard.

Booth nodded in reply as he made his way over to the table, arms full. She grabbed the carton of milk before it fell and placed it on the table before moving past him.

There was slight hesitation on both their parts, almost to quick to have even occurred as she brushed by him. Normally she would've kissed him lightly in passing. But that was normally. And things weren't normal anymore.

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Well there's another chapter. Number 9! I have to admit I have no idea how many chapters this story will take. I plan very minimally ahead what I am going to write. And most chapters are written in one sitting (this is one exception to that rule) as I like to let the characters dictate what should happen next.

Also, I will admit, that if I plan in too much detail, I usually never finish writing the story. It seems counter-intuitive, but when I write a story, I get almost the same amount of pleasure as I do from reading someone else's. Since I don't plan to much what will happen next is almost as much a surprise to me as it is to you. Yeah, I know the whole murder case in this one, but I have yet to decide on the journey it will take to uncover all the clues, and how Brennan and Booth will mend (or destroy) their relationship. And the journey is what it's all about. :)

I know some of you will be disappointed with this chapter as you were looking forward to them having a big discussion/talk. My problem with doing that (and the reason it took so long was trying to find a way to kind of circumvent that occurring this early in the story) is it doesn't really fit the way I see and understand the characters. I can't see Booth getting into an all out emotional fight/argument/debate/talk with Parker in the house. And I don't think Brennan is emotionally ready for it, and so even if it had tried to occur, she probably would've ran. But all in good time. :)

Okay, well I sort of got 10 reviews for the last chapter (2 of them came from Jackie as hers got posted twice). :) However, I would like to point out that I have 31 people getting story alerts and I've been getting over 400 hits per chapter and 10 reviews is less than a 2.5 success rate.

So once again, I ask, beg, plead, please review and keep me motivated to continue. Although, I do seem to have some very dedicated reviewers and I thank them and promise to continue if only for them.

(Oh, and for those who mentioned my run, it went very well! I went again on Sunday and was able to run for 25 minutes straight! And yes, this is a big accomplishment for me, as I'm not by any means a natural athlete, but I'm enjoying it.)


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Disclaimer – look at earlier chapters, same stuff applies now.

Well, I think I'll leave most author's notes to the end.. not much to say about this chapter anyway. :)

Just a quick comment, I did some (not much) research into dislocated shoulders, and my research didn't seem promising that there would be any affects left on the bones, but I wanted there to be, so poof, now there is. :)

So go read… (and don't forget to review). (And if you see errors, let me know, I re-read it over once quickly and made a few corrections but probably missed some others).

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After helping Booth and Parker get out the door, Brennan made it into work a few minutes later than she normally would. Angela, Hodgins and Zack were already busy working away. Hodgins was off in his office analyzing the fiber, Zack was looking over the now clean bones, and Angela was in her office sketching the face for the victim.

Brennan did a cursory walk through the lab saying hello to the others before finishing with a quick stop in her office. After confirming there was nothing urgent in her email (using her definition, not the wording of the emails) she joined Zack on the platform.

"So what have you learned so far?" Brennan asked as she pulled on her latex gloves and leaned down over the table.

"Well, I got in early this morning so I was able to look over the skull before Angela got here. There's evidence of blunt force trauma to the back of the skull and looks like there may be an impression from the weapon used on the skull. I've asked Angela to take a look using the Angelator after she's done with the skull." Zack stood up and faced his mentor. They may be equals now, but that was only in terms of the "Doctor" preceding their names. Brennan still had more experience and knowledge than Zack, and therefore he still often deferred to her for an opinion and praise. "I've been going over the rest of the bones and the only thing I've noticed is evidence that his shoulder has been dislocated. Well that and lots of little teeth marks from animals. I guess they could be hiding evidence…" Zack trailed off and watched as Brennan moved to look at the shoulder he had pointed at.

"Interesting," Brennan nodded her head. "It doesn't look like it even had a chance to start healing. There's very little evidence of blood pooling at the location. I would estimate that this occurred shortly before death."

"Yeah, that's what I thought as well," Zack nodded in agreement. "I've been over these bones once already, but I'll double check them now and see if I can discover anything else."

"Sounds good, thanks Zack," Brennan gave the bones another cursory glance before heading off to Angela's office to check with her about her progress on the sketch. She was just finishing it up when she entered.

"Hey Bren, I'm just about to enter the sketch and run it against the missing person's database." Angela looked up briefly from where she sat in front of the computer. After checking over the final details, she clicked the mouse button and started the search. Standing up, she grabbed her ever-present touch screen control device for the Angelator and moved over to Brennan's side. "So I've entered the information for the skull into the system, let me pull it up."

The two turned their attention to the Angelator in the center of the room, moving over to stand on opposite sides of it. As the skull appeared, floating before them, Brennan looked at the back of the skull carefully. "Hey Ang, can you focus on this area right here?" She gestured to a specific part of the skull.

Angela nodded in agreement before tapping away on the touch screen and soon only the back portion of the skull remained.

"Is it just me, or do you see an impression right here?" Brennan pointed at the image. "Do you think you could show what the impression looks like? You know, a molding of it?"

"You want me to bring the imprint and put it into 3D?" Angela clarified and Brennan nodded her agreement. Once again Angela bent over the touch screen tapping away. While she worked, Brennan wandered over to the computer to check on the missing person search. It had found 4 possible matches so far but Brennan was able to dismiss all of them with a quick glance.

"Okay, I'm ready," Angela called her back over.

"Hmm," Brennan stared at the screen where the impression now floated. There dent seemed to be caused by an object that had a sharp corner. But it wasn't consistent, on one side the impression then moved slightly out, making it wider. Almost like there was another protrusion on the object that wasn't as sharp and wasn't able to make as distinct an impression.. " What does that look like to you?"

"Nothing," Angela shook her head apologetically. "I think you'd need some objects to compare it too. Sorry that didn't help."

Beep. They both turned back to the computer where a flashing "Search Completed" blinked on the screen. Moving back over to it there were now nine results showing. Brennan looked them over slowly before turning to Angela in disappointment.

"I would say that none of them are a match," Angela agreed. "Odd though, because from the fragments of clothing left behind he didn't look like he was homeless. I would expect someone to have noticed that he had gone missing."

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By the time Booth and Parker arrived at the lab, everyone was feeling frustrated as no one had made any progress and they were all snapping at each other. Brennan had fled to her office in an attempt to save her sanity and so that was where Parker found her, rushing in waving about a drawing.

"Look Bones, look," Parker rushed up to her. She rolled her chair away from the desk, turning to face him and caught him as he leapt into her lap. "I drew this for you!"

"Wow, thanks Parker," Brennan examined the drawing carefully. There were three stick figures, one wearing a blue dress, one in a black outfit and the final one, a shorter one, was wearing blue pants and a red shirt. "Am I wearing a dress?" Brennan asked confused.

"No silly," Parker laughed, shaking his head wildly, "that's your lab coat."

"Oh," Brennan nodded. She envied the parents who were able to look at their kids drawings and have a pretty good clue as to what it represented. She always seemed to misinterpret.

"And see, that's daddy," Parker pointed at the black figure. "He has a _gun_," Parker continued in awe and Brennan was just able to make out the gun shape in place of one hand.

"How come I didn't get a gun," Brennan questioned.

"We're not allowed to have guns," Parker replied solemnly. "But that's okay, daddy will protect us." He turned and looked at his dad, who was just entering the office now, having not run all the way through the lab like his son had. Brennan caught his eye briefly, before both immediately turned away.

"How's the case going?" Booth asked, standing awkwardly in the doorway watching his wife and son cuddling in the chair. _Wife_, it always blew his mind when he thought of her as his wife. They may have been married for close to a year now, but the fact that they were still continued to amaze and surprise him. If anyone had told him when he had first started falling for Bones that he would be able to convince her to change her mind on marriage he would've laughed in their face and bet his life savings against himself. What a change the past year and half had been.

"Not great," Brennan sighed, learning forward and sliding a case file towards Booth. She opened it up to the sketch that Angela had produced. "We tried running the drawing through missing persons. We got nine results but none were close enough matches."

Booth moved closer to the desk, examining the image closely, and Parker mimicked his dads actions. There was one notable difference though, while Booth's expression remained neutral, Parker pointed excitedly.

"That's Mr. Johnson!"

"What?"

"Who?"

Both Brennan and Booth's heads snapped towards the little boy. When Booth didn't continue as he was too stunned, Brennan spoke up again. "Parker, do you recognize the man in the picture?"

"Yeah, that looks like Mr. Johnson. He's Freddie's dad," Parker nodded, then paused thoughtfully. "Although Mr. Johnson has less hair."

"Freddie? The kid from your class?" Booth questioned as he moved to stand beside Brennan and Parker.

"Yeah, he's really nice. I'm going to invite him to my birthday party. He's been sad lately."

"Have you seen his dad?"

"Not recently. I think that's why he's sad. He lives with his mommy like me."

"Well I think we've got something to check out this afternoon," Brennan said happily. Progress was the best motivator.

"Well _I_ have something to do," Booth corrected. "You'll be hanging out with Parker, remember?"

She looked about to protest, before glancing down at the boy. He was looking up at her with such hope that she didn't have the heart to refuse him. "Right, you'll check it out. I guess we can discuss the results later."

Booth nodded and picked up the file and turned to head towards the door. He paused as he reached the threshold. "Parker had I never had a chance to eat lunch. Would you guys like to go to Wong Foo's?" Booth asked tentatively.

Brennan was about to say no but she looked down and saw Parker was already nodding in agreement. "Sure, why not." She nudged Parker and he got up off her lap and moved over to the door. She quickly gathered her stuff together and joined them.

Booth stepped back, allowing Brennan and Parker to pass through the doorway ahead of him before following them out, shutting the office door behind him. They weren't walking very fast, so a couple steps later he had fallen in line with them, walking next to Bones. Parker was in the middle of telling a joke he had learned at school and they all laughed at the punch line, Booths' hand coming up to rest on Brennan's lower back unconsciously.

Brennan flinched slightly at the feeling of his touch, but resisted the temptation to glance over at him. Her smile slipped to a frown as she felt him pull his hand away temporarily. After a short pause, he placed it back and her smile reappeared. She placed her hand on Parker's shoulder gently guiding him towards the door just as his dad was guiding her.

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Well there's chapter 10! And the case is finally moving forward as we have a tentative identity for the victim.

And look, Booth and Brennan are touching. Okay, so they're not talking, yet, but it will come about… just give them time. They're both stubborn and someone's going to have to cave and make the first move (when they're both awake to realize it).

And if anyone cares (probably no one does, but I'm proud of myself) I've managed to get my running up to 25 minutes consistently (about 2.5 miles or just over 4 km). :) If anyone wants to get into running they should check out coolrunnings couch to 5k program.. it's working for me. :)

Okay, so I had 8 reviews for the longest time, and was really lacking on motivation to write this chapter. Luckily, I got a ninth review yesterday which helped get me started writing. I'd really like to hear more opinions from you guys. I've been watching the 'hits' and I know there are more than 10 people reading it. :)

So … hit that button and let me know what you think so I can keep the motivation going and update the next chapter this week (next weekend (is a long weekend) and my sister and her friend are visiting, so it'll be a bit harder to find time to write. I hope to get a chapter up before they get here, and

Oh, wait. I know what I wanted to ask… chapter length? Too long? Too short? Just right? Shorter and more often? Longer and bigger breaks? Any opinions?


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 –

Disclaimer – I still don't own Bones and doubt I ever will.

Well this chapter is shorter than the last ones, but I wanted to get something up. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed you guys make my day. :)

This chapter doesn't have any BB interaction, sorry, but we are progressing with the case… woohoo.

So, go read, and then don't forget to review.

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After lunch the three returned to the lab. On the way to Wong Foo's, Brennan had called Angela and asked her to search missing person's to see if Mr. Johnson was even listed. Maybe that had mistaken the time frame of his death. However, by the time they returned all Angela had to report was that he was not listed anywhere in the database.

Booth had put a call into the FBI offices and had them pull up all information on Mr. And Mrs. Johnson and now had an address.

It was decided that Booth would go over and talk to Mrs. Johnson and see if she knew if her husband was missing, and if possible, get a DNA sample or pictures or something that the squints could use to make a positive ID.

Now, pulling up to the curb in front of the house, Booth could see a small boy about Parker's age playing by himself in the front yard. He thought he recognized the kid and assumed he was the Freddie that Parker had been talking about.

"Hi," Booth approached the boy. "Are you Freddie Johnson?"

The boy looked around nervously, glancing back at his house. "Um…"

As much as it annoyed Booth to a degree that he couldn't approach anyone anymore without people getting nervous, he was relieved to see that this kid has obviously learned about not talking to strangers.

"I'm looking for your mom, is she home?" Booth didn't wait for an answer, but headed up the steps to the front door. Freddie watched him nervously, before slowly following after him. By the time Freddie had joined him on the front steps Booth had already knocked and could hear someone making their way towards the door.

"Hello?" A woman answered the door. She was well put together, everything meticulously in place, not a single strand of hair doing what she didn't want it to do. She looked over at Freddie and reached out, pulling him towards her. "What do you want?"

"Hi, are you Mrs. Johnson?" Booth asked, pulling out his badge.

"Who's asking?"

"I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth with the FBI," Booth handed her his badge. "I'm trying to find Mrs. Johnson."

"I go by Ms. Carson now," the woman handed the badge back. "We split up."

"Oh, I didn't see any evidence of a divorce," Booth was stunned.

"Well, I haven't actually gone through with it yet," Ms. Carson confessed. "I was in the process of getting the papers drawn together when he left."

"Left where?"

"If I knew that, I would be divorced by now," she snapped in reply.

"Can you tell me the last time you saw him?"

"What's this really about?"

"Um," Booth looked over at Freddie pointedly and Ms. Carson seemed to have forgotten he was there.

"Freddie, why don't you go play in the backyard?" she directed him to the backyard. He looked over at Booth for a second.

"Are you really an FBI Agent?" He asked in awe.

"Yep."

"Wow, one of my friends at school has an FBI Agent for their dad," Freddie told him.

"I know," Booth laughed internally at the shocked look on Freddie's face. "I'm Parker's dad," he clarified.

"Parker's cool," Freddie nodded knowingly.

"Freddie…" Ms. Carson looked at her son and then pointedly at the back of the house.

"Sorry," Freddie's smile dropped away instantly and he slinked of to the back of the house, looking back a couple of times along the way.

Booth looked at his mom, "do you think I could come in?"

"Oh, sorry, yes, come on in," Ms. Carson stepped aside and waved him before directing him into a living room. The furniture still looked brand new in the room, and instantly it reminded Booth of the living room in the house he grew up in. It was only used when guests were over, otherwise it was off limits.

He sat down gingerly in a stiff high backed chair before leaning forward, his elbows resting on his knees. "I'm sorry to inform you Ms. Carson…"

"You can call me Anne," she interrupted, settling onto the couch opposite him.

"Anne. A body was discovered out in Rock Creek Park and we have reason to believe that it is Mr. Johnson."

"A… a body?" Anne looked shocked.

"Yes, we haven't officially identified him yet, but that's where you come in. We were hoping that you would have something with is DNA on it, like a toothbrush."

Anne shook her head. "I'm sorry, but after he left I got rid of all his things. All I have left are a couple of pictures that I gave to Freddie. He may not have been a good dad, but I didn't think I should deny Freddie the pictures. He's much better off without his dad in his life."

"Do you think I could take the pictures? We can do quite a bit off pictures nowadays. Also, do you have the name of the dentist that Mr. Johnson used?" Booth asked, filing away the information she had supplied about Mr. Johnson's parenting skills.

Anne didn't answer right away, and when she did, tears were leaking steadily from the corners of her eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm just in shock here. I, I just figured that Bruce decided he didn't want to deal with the whole divorce proceedings and ran off." She paused and seemed to mentally gather herself together before standing up. "I'll go get the pictures and the name of the dentist. Excuse me." With that, she left the room.

Booth had been sitting drumming on his knees when he heard a creak of the floor near the door way. Turning around, he saw Freddie pull his head back quickly.

"It's okay Freddie, you can come in," Booth told the boy who quickly scuttled into the room.

"Are you here about my dad?" Freddie asked coming to stand directly in front of Booth. With Booth sitting, they were now eye-to-eye.

"Uh, yeah, yes I am," Booth nodded.

"Is he coming back?" A hopeful smile lit up his face before it fell away again and he added sadly. "I miss him. I haven't seen him in almost a _whole_ year."

"Um," Booth grimaced. How do you tell a little boy that his father is probably dead. Instead of following that train of thought, he decided to question him about his dad. Freddie was giving a distinctly different impression that Anne had. "Freddie, did you and your dad get along?"

"My dad is _awesome_." Freddie nodded enthusiastically. "He would take me to baseball games and played in the park with me and taught me to ride my bike and …" Freddie trailed off as Anne Carson returned to the room clutching a couple of pictures and a piece of paper with a name and phone number scrawled on it.

"Freddie, what are you doing in here?" Anne questioned the boy sternly.

He looked down, scuffing his shoe against the ground. "I wanted to know what you were talking about."

"It's okay Anne," Booth stood up, placing a hand on Freddie's shoulder. "Do you have that information for me?"

"Yes, here it is, I hope it helps," she passed the information over.

"Thanks, I'll let you know if we confirm the results," Booth took the results and crouched down next to Freddie. "And I'll see you around Freddie." He stood back up and held out a hand to Anne, shaking it politely before heading to the door. "Bye."

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Okay, that chapter was quite a bit shorter than my normal ones. But I wanted to get a chapter out before my sister and her friend arrive in about an hour. :)

Anyway, I will spend the next hour working on another chapter so that I can hopefully get something up for you guys in the next couple of days. I think I will aim to update every 2-3 days but keep the chapters closer to 1000 words instead of my normal 2000 aim.

So once again please review, review, review:) It makes my dad when I see the emails.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 –

Disclaimer – I still don't own Bones and doubt I ever will.

What, there's a new chapter? I/you must be dreaming. No wait, there really is one. That's right, over a year later this story has been resurrected and new life has been breathed in. Yea!!

Not a lot happens this chapter, was just getting back into the swing of things… and had just read an article about money management… can you find the area of the chapter where that affected my thoughts?

Okay, longer AN after the chapter… So what are you waiting for, read on!

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Arriving back at the Jeffersonian, Booth quickly made his way through the lab on a direct course for Brennan's office. However, as he drew close, he noticed the door was open and no was inside, and so he altered his path to the platform .

Swiping his card to gain access, he hopped up the steps and headed to the back corner where he could see Brennan standing by a microscope, Parker kneeling on a chair beside her.

"Hey guys, what are you doing?" Booth questioned, ruffling Parker's hair as he pulled up beside them.

Neither looked up, both intent on the microscope, but Parker did reply with "I'm looking at staph locus oreos."

"What?" Booth turned to look at Brennan, who finally glanced away from the microscope.

"_Staphylococcus aureus_," she corrected Parker gently, before adding unnecessarily, "it's bacteria."

"I know _that_. But why are you looking at …. that" Booth decided not to attempt the name in case he butchered it like Parker had.

"Did you know we're _covered_ in bacteria dad?" Parker also turned away, leaning his arms on the back of the chair. "This … stuff is from my _NOSE!_"

Booth tried not to grimace at the thought as he produced a fake smile. "That's great Parker." Turning to Bones he added, "what?"

"It's a very common bacteria Booth, there's nothing to worry about. Almost 30 of the population are carriers."

"Great… just great," Booth shook his head, distancing himself from the conversation. "Anyway, I have a few things to report back from my talk this afternoon," he waved around the file folder he was clutching in his left hand. "Parker, why don't you go hang out with Hodgin's and … feed some bugs."

"Okay daddy," Parker got off the stool and headed towards the platform steps. As he neared the edge, he stopped, turning back to face his dad and step-mom. "Did you see Freddie daddy?" At his dad's nod, he continued, "did you invite him to my birthday party?"

"No Parks, I left that for you to do. Besides, we've still got a month until your party, lots of time to worry about all of that." Booth gave his son a grin. "Go hang out with Hodgins and I'll come by to see you in a bit, okay?"

"Can we go see the dinosaurs later?" Parker asked, turning back to start hopping down the stairs.

"Sure Parks."

Once Parker had disappeared from hearing range, Booth turned back to Brennan who was tossing the slide of Parker's _Staphylococcus aureus_ into one of the many hazardous waste containers that were kept throughout the labs.

"So I got a few pictures and the name of Mr. Johnson's dentist," Booth placed down the folder he was carrying, flipping it open to show the pictures.

Brennan picked up the few pictures, flipping through them slowly, putting them back in the folder as she discarded them, until she was holding onto one remaining picture. "This is a good frontal shot. It very clearly shows the underlying bone structure of his face. I'll pass it onto Angela, but I'm almost ready to say we have a positive id on the bones. The dental records as well can confirm that. I'll get Zack to phone in a request."

"No need," Booth shook his head, Brennan immediately looked up from the picture, ready to dispute. "I've already done it. They should be getting sent over this afternoon."

"Thanks," Brennan started moving towards Angela's office until Booth's next question stopped her.

"You're not going to ask about what I learned talking to Mrs. Johnson, or should I say, Ms. Carson?"

"Fine, what did you learn?" Brennan stopped, leaning her hand on a table, tapping her fingers impatiently.

"I don't have to tell you if you're not interested," Booth said, staring intently at the tapping.

"Don't then," Bones turned away from the table and continued towards Angela's office.

"You know, you use to want to be involved in all areas of the case," Booth muttered, just loud enough for Bones to hear, as he angrily closed the folder and picked it up.

"Yeah, and you use to want me to be involved," Bones shot back, before picking up her pace and quickly leaving the area.

The cliché, _'two steps forward, one step back'_ crossed Booths mind as he picked up his folder and also stormed off the platform.

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Walking into Hodgin's office, Booth paused in the doorway, watching his son interact with Hodgin, a soft smile crossing his face. Nothing, not even his deteriorating relationship with Bones, was going to ruin his summer with Parker.

"Hey bub, you ready to go check out the dinosaurs?" he finally interjected, causing two heads to swing his way.

"Already?" Parker looked thrilled at the thought. Not wanting his dad to have a chance to change his mind, he bolted off the stool he was sitting on and grabbed his dad's hand, pulling him back towards the door. "Let's go!"

"You already done for the day?" Jack looked over at Booth concerned. He knew Booth had gone for a chat with who they believed to be the victims wife, and it had been less than 5 minutes since Parker had arrived and told him that his dad and Bones were talking. He took a careful critical look at Booth. The guy look so tired, mentally and physically, although he was putting a good face forward for Parker. "You okay man?"

"Yeah, nothing I can really do now, and so might as well wait for the official id. The dental records should be arriving soon and Bones and Angela also have a picture to work off of." Booth shrugged. "So Parker here," he looked down at his son, who was trying with all his might to pull Booth out of the office, "Parker and I are going to go check out some dinosaurs, get something to eat and go home. I'll see you tomorrow."

With a short wave, and a shouted good-bye from Parker, the two of them disappeared off into the more public areas of the museum, both chatting away excitedly about triceratops, their favorite dinosaur.

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That evening Brennan arrived home long after Parker had been put down for the night. The dental records had taken a long time to arrive, and then she had hung around waiting for Angela to do the final comparison. She had wanted to finalize the ID before she left for the night.

By the time she had finally left the lab, not only was the ID finalized, but Hodgin's had been able to narrow the time of death down to a one week period at the beginning of August. Zack had figured out that the dislocated shoulder had happened within an hour of death and the two of them had found evidence of a second injury to the head, most likely due to a fall.

The house was dark as she pulled into the driveway, turning off and parking the car outside, not wanting to wake Booth and Parker by putting up the garage door. She unlocked the front door before softly pulling it open letting herself in, before shutting and locking the door behind her. Back, soon after they had moved into the house, Booth had come down in the morning to find she hadn't locked the door after arriving home the night before and had freaked out. Since then, she had been extra careful to remember to lock it.

Glancing back at the door as she removed her coat and shoes, she was almost tempted to leave it unlocked out of spite, but Parker was staying with them, and as much as she believed both Booth and herself could take care of themselves, she'd never willingly put Parker in danger.

Grabbing the stack of mail off the small side table, she moved into the kitchen where she grabbed an apple out of the ever present fruit bowl (her contribution) and started to munch away. Flipping through the mail, she sorted it into four piles, bills, junk, stuff for her and stuff for Booth.

Brennan had always been an introvert, and even after getting together with Booth, she found she was unable to share everything with him. She didn't understand couples who had things like a single email; their friends knew to email both of them at their own accounts. She had caved on the joint bank account, but only because bills were easier when either of them could pay them off with a click of a button online. But even with the joint account, they still both had their own separate accounts they could use to buy items that were specifically theirs – like clothes, jewelry (her), sports memorabilia (his) and magazine subscriptions – his Sports Illustrated and her Scientific America.

They both contributed equally to the joint account, an eventual mutual agreement – she had been willing to contribute more (she did have a seven figure book deal). But Booth had argued that they were equals, here in a relationship, just as much as they had always been (and always would be) in their partnership. And so they had agreed upon an amount that would more than cover all their bills and necessities (stuff like groceries came from this account) and then divided the amount in half. So far it was working well, they had never run out of money available and actually were able to start a joint savings account with the extra money that was left over month to month.

The only time she had got her way, money wise, was in the purchase of the house. She had insisted, almost to the point of begging, to cover the down deposit, since she had the cash available. She had eventually won out, although Booth (with some help from his parents) then refused to let her pay anything for the wedding. And so, somewhat secretly, since that time she would occasionally pay an extra months worth of mortgage off. So far he hadn't noticed.

After sorting through her mail, nothing useful, tossing the junk mail, and opening all the bills and highlighting the total amounts due, she tossed her apple core in the compost bucket (a contribution by Parker during a school module on the environment) and headed up the stairs.

As she was walking past Booth's study she noticed the light seeping out underneath the doorway and, after pausing, could hear the tell-tale sound of his small rubber ball bouncing off one of the walls as he tossed it.

She looked down the hall towards their bedroom, sleep tempting her, before looking back to the door in front of her. She knew she had blown him off earlier today, and that she wasn't helping the situation. Besides, she did have new information on the case she should share.

Taking a step forward, she raised her hand and knocked softly.

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Hey everyone, long time no write. :) I'm happy to say I'm back, and hopefully long enough to finish out the story.

So, I'm sure you're all wondering where I disappeared to, and honestly I didn't disappear, I've been hanging around and reading like normal, but just not writing. RL always gets in the way.

Last summer, I moved cities and started Grad School (which has been awesome so far). It's been a very busy time as I tried to get use to the grad school course load (very heavy for only 2 – 3 courses), ta-ing, making a whole new friend set, finding a supervisor, taking a trip to India with my family (once again was sick for pretty much the entire thing) starting back into an exercise routine and getting elected as the president of the CS grad association (not my plan, I was forced :P).

Anyway, as the summer drifts (I mean speeds) by I figure I need some extra relaxation, and so writing seemed to be key. Not only am I now responsible for organizing activities for all the CS grad students, but getting things prepped for the new students in the fall, working on my research, taking swimming lessons with my sister (so fun to be back in a pool) and training for a half marathon (yes, I've come a long way from my last posts where I could only run 4k – yesterday in training we ran 14!).

So, now that you all know an abbreviated version of my life over the past 12 or so months, click that review button and keep me motivated until the end…


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 –

Authors note – This was a nightmare of a chapter to write. I've been working on it pretty steadily, but it just didn't want to come out. I'm not entirely happy with it, but since it's already been over two weeks, I really want to get something up. The next (hopefully) will be better.

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The knocking on the door was so soft that Booth paused, fingers about to release the small blue ball again, clenching tight around it, as he listened intently. There was a brief moment of silence before the knocking happened again, a little louder and a little stronger.

Dropping the ball onto the desk as he rose, he waked hesitantly to the door. Parker would've just stormed in, should he have awoken and wanted him. That or, screamed "daddy." Bones would knock though. She always had, and he had always returned the courtesy.

He'd forgotten once, and barged in while she was writing a few months earlier. She hadn't talked to him for days afterwards, blaming him for a spout of writer's block.

Taking a deep breath, preparing himself for whatever was on the other side of the door "happy Bones" or "angry Bones" or "sad Bones" or any numerous emotion, he pulled the door open.

Leaning against the door frame, he slowly let his gaze wash over her, from the bottom until he met her eyes. Her hands were restlessly wringing together nervously and she was biting her bottom lip. "Hey Bones," the words feel softly from his lips, his brain too busy mentally cycling through his catalogue of Bones encounters, when was the last time she had been nervous to talk to him? Even when they started dating, she had never seemed nervous about anything. Instead, it was usually him putting the brake pedals on, afraid they were moving too fast, or questioning what they were doing.

Meeting his gaze, Brennan pulled herself together. This was just Booth after all. He'd never made her nervous before, so why should he now. "I noticed the light on," she gestured to the floor, where moments earlier the light had been leaking out under the previously closed door. "I thought I could give you an update."

"Oh, sure, why not," Booth moved back from the doorway, gesturing her in. He returned to his seat, picking up his ball and tossing it back against the wall.

Flipping open the small notebook she still carried, she sat down, back rigid, in the chair opposite his desk. "The dental records didn't show up until almost 5, but Angela hung around and got the confirmation we needed. Since Angela was there, so Hodgins decided to see if he could narrow down the time frame of Mr. Johnson's death. We now have it confirmed for the first week of August as of last year."

Stopping to gauge Booth's reaction, Brennan looked up from the notes. Booth now had the blue ball clasped between his hands just below his chin and his feet resting on the desk.

"Zack and I did a second pass over the bones and have found two sites of trauma to the skull. One impression implies some sort of sharp trauma, although we have yet to identify the source. The skull shows hemorrhaging, which suggests he was still alive during the blow. We believe it would have been enough to knock him out. The second blow shows very little hemorrhaging, much like the dislocated shoulder, so we think those two injuries happened much later and closer to his actual time of death," Brennan took another pause, before finishing up the small amount of news she had to deliver. "Those two injuries probably happened near the campsite. We're still waiting for the tox screen results to come back, hopefully tomorrow."

Letting his feet drop to the floor, Booth turned towards his desk, pulling a folder of his own notes closer and flipping it open. Following Brennan's lead, he kept things strictly professional. "I had a short visit with both Ms. Carson and Freddie. Ms. Carson said she had just started divorce proceedings against Mr. Johnson when he went missing. She didn't report him, because she figured he had just decided he didn't want to deal with all the legal stuff."

"Not even for child support?" Brennan looked dubious.

"The house looks well taken care of and they don't appear to be hurting financially. She also made a comment that she didn't think Mr. Johnson was a good father to Freddie. The way she said it, it sounded like she thought they were better off without him." A look of disgust crossed his features, his eyes going towards the doorway of the room, no doubt thinking of Parker down the hall.

"Children are always better off with two supportive parents," Brennan said softly. "Rebecca knows that Parker would not be better off without you."

"Thanks," Booth tried to shrug away what he was feeling, as he flipped through his notes. "Oh, when she was tracking down the name and hone number of his dentist, Freddie came to see me. It was interesting, but he gave a very different impression of his dad. Seemed to think his dad could do no wrong."

"Well he is six. Most parents are like superhero's to their kids at that age," Brennan rationalized.

"Yeah, but I really didn't get any bad feelings from Freddie," Booth shrugged again. "Now that we've confirmed the identification I'll have to go talk to Ms. Carson again. I'll see if I can't see Freddie while I'm there also." He flipped the folder closed, pushing it away.

"This case is moving very slowly," Bones sighed, as she flipped her notebook closed.

"Well, it hasn't really been that long," Booth rationalized, "and besides, we now have a positive ID, so the real questioning can start."

"True," Brennan paused, the conversation having already come to a natural close, but yet she didn't want this moment of civility to pass. "How was Parker tonight? I heard you guys went and saw the dinosaurs."

"It was fun, as usual. I think it's impossible for Parker to be bored in that exhibit. I had to drag him out of there to go get dinner." Booth smiled to himself, remembering an early moment.

"Sounds like fun."

"We missed you," the words were out of his mouth before he even had a chance to think about what he was saying.

"Really?" A look of surprise and happiness shot across Brennan's face.

"Of course," Booth gave her a funny look. "Without your brain available, I had to try to answer the zillion questions he had."

"Oh," Brennan pushed up from her seat, moving quickly towards the door. "I'm still exhausted from the other night, I think I'll head to bed."

"Oh, okay," a confused look spread across his face, but he didn't bother to ask. It was late, fighting wasn't fun, and Parker would probably wake up. He really didn't want to have to spend time explaining to his son that he and Bones were having problems. He still had faith they could fix it before it was too late, and Parker had to know.

"Goodnight," Brennan tossed over her shoulder as she slipped from the room, pulling the door shut behind her.

"Night," Booth replied distractedly, his mind racing over the past conversation, trying to dissect where things had gone wrong this time.

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The following morning, Brennan had got up, showered, made and ate breakfast with Parker and was out the door before Booth had even stumbled out of bed. She left Parker with the message to let his dad know that she would be at the lab, and available if he wanted to drop Parker off.

After dropping her bags off in her office, checking her email and phone messages, she headed out to the platform to pull Mr. Johnson's bones out again. She found laying a skeleton out on a table a very therapeutic process, mentally naming the bones and finding the right place for them to sit. Once the process was complete, she bent over the skeleton, ready for a third look.

She knew she and Zack had done a good job with their observations already, but, now with the positive ID, she felt the need to re-check, and see if something would jump out that she hadn't noticed before. It was unlikely, but it gave her something to do, and it allowed her brain to re-categorize all of the information on the case as she did so.

She was nearing the end of her examination by the time the rest of the crew had fully arrived at the office.

Zack was standing quietly off to the side, waiting for her to finish so they could discuss the next step. Hodgins was bent over a microscope looking at samples taken near the head wound. At the Angelator, Angela worked at trying to produce plausible explanations for how the three injuries possibly occurred. And Cam was in her office, dealing with multitudes of paperwork, phone messages, emails, and demanding her tox-screen results be returned ASAP.

When Booth and Parker arrived 20 minutes later the only change was that Zack and Brennan were now discussing the results of her third pass, and possible murder weapons.

"Hi Bones," Parker waved from the bottom of the stairs to the platform. He knew from many past visits to the lab, that he wasn't allowed onto the platform unless his dad, Bones or one of the squints brought him up. He was told this was to prevent the alarm from going off, but the real reason was to prevent him from seeing something he shouldn't.

"Hey Parker," Brennan returned the wave. "Why don't you go hang out in my office, I'll be there in a couple of minutes."

"Okay," Parker nodded, and ran off.

Booth, who Brennan hadn't noticed at first, remained standing at the bottom watching his son disappear. Once sure he had gone into the office, he moved onto the platform himself.

After greeting everyone, he turned to Bones. "TGIF."

"What?"

"Oh, come on Bones, TGIF? You know, 'Thank God It's Friday'?" At Brennan's perplexed look he sighed, letting the saying pass her by. "Tomorrow's the weekend! Fun time! Relaxing time!"

"Fun? Relaxing? Booth, we have Mr. Johnson's case to solve," Brennan protested.

"We can't keep passing Parker back and forth while we solve it. If we take the weekend off, then on Monday he starts the day camp here, so it'll be a little easier."

"But…" Brennan was about to continue protesting when Cam joined them on the platform.

"Bad news, the tox-screen report won't be ready until Monday. The machine's broke down again today, and there's a backlog," Cam reported. "They're going to work all weekend just to have the reports ready for people for Monday." She added to stave off a complaint from Brennan.

"See, perfect Bones, you can take the weekend off and hang with Parker," Booth smiled gleefully in her direction.

Moving her gaze between the two, Brennan huffed loudly, before storming off the platform towards her office.

After watching her leave, Booth turned to Cam. "I'll see if I can't convince her to leave sooner. Anyway, I'll see you Monday for sure." He gave her a short wave as he followed the same path as Bones.

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Once again, sorry for the quality of this chapter. :( The next one, which will (fingers crossed) be up in the next week or so, will be about their weekend off. So the case won't necessarily move forward, working towards resolving (or at least talking) about their issues should.

Please, let me know if it was worth while bringing this story back to life, or if I should've just left it dead.


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